Border guards at Arkankergen post were sober at time of death - study
ASTANA. June 3 (Interfax) - An expert examination has established that the border guards at Arkankergen post in Almaty region on the border with China were sober at the time of death, the press office of the border service of the Kazakhstani National Security Committee has reported.
"Based on the findings of a forensic study conducted in Astana it has been established that there were no traces of alcohol in the remains of all the servicemen as well as the gamekeeper of a hunting entity who died at Arkankergen border post," a Sunday press release of the service says.
The body of one of killed servicemen - a sentinel of Arkankergen - was discovered 100 meters away from the post in a warm jacket, hat and with magazine bag, the report says.
Last Wednesday, a border guard detail from the Sary Bokter frontier post in the Usharal district, Almaty region, found the nearby Arkankergen border post to have been destroyed by fire and its entire personnel to be dead. Arkankergen is manned by 15 servicemen in summertime.
The soldiers' barracks and the officers' building were burned down, and 14 dead bodies were found when the rubble was being dug through. In addition, the body of the gamekeeper was found in a nearby hunting hut.
President Nursultan Nazarbayev called the tragedy at the post a terrorist act.
