Another 2 criminal cases opened against hotel director, employees following Syamozero tragedy - Russian Investigative Committee spokesman Markin
MOSCOW. June 23 (Interfax) - Another two criminal cases has been opened following the deadly accident on Karelia's Syamozero that left more than a dozen children dead, Russian Investigative Committee spokesman Vladimir Markin told Interfax on Thursday.
"Investigative bodies of the Russian Investigative Committee in the Republic of Karelia opened another two criminal cases following the death of children on the lake of Syamozero, and also [in the probe] into the events that preceded the incident. A criminal case has been opened against employees at Park-Hotel Syamozero Ltd on the suspicion of commitment of a criminal offence specified in Article 238 Part 2 of the Russian Criminal Code ("Rendering Services Not Meeting Safety Requirements"). The other criminal case has been opened against Yelena Reshetova, the director of Park-Hotel Syamozero Ltd, as well as her deputy Vadim Vinogradov and other individuals, suspected of committing a criminal offence specified in Article 125 of the Russian Criminal Code ("Leaving to Danger")," Markin said.
According to Markin, from June 3-18, Park-Hotel Syamozero Ltd employees held seminars for the purpose of training children ahead of sailing off on floating crafts on the lake. Such events, in which the park-hotel employees forced children to take part, are dangerous to life and health, he said.
"On June 18, 2016, over the course of the water crossing by children and adults, a storm began, resulting in the group being split. Vadim Vinogradov, who in the storm conditions reached the shore together with a group of children, phoned Director Reshetova and told her about the situation that had happened and that he knew nothing about the fate of the other group. In that situation, Reshetova took no action to save children, instructing Vinogradov accordingly. In other words, they both essentially withheld the emergency situation by not informing the agencies that could then start a rescue operation immediately," Markin explained.
