A case has been opened in Karelia over the death of tourists on kayaks in the White Sea

The Investigative Committee (IC) of Russia has opened a criminal case into the deaths of three tourists on kayaks in the waters of the White Sea. This was stated to Izvestia on September 9 by Diana Popovitskaya, Senior Assistant to the head of the Investigative Department (SU) of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Republic of Karelia.

"A criminal case has been opened into the deaths of three members of a tourist group in the waters of the White Sea. <...> Necessary investigative actions are currently being carried out in the criminal case," she said.

According to investigators, on July 15, a group of tourists from nine residents of the Volgograd region came to Karelia to kayak. Later, on July 19, while traveling across the White Sea to Solovetsky Island in the Arkhangelsk region, tourists in kayaks capsized due to bad weather. As a result, three people died.

The Investigative Committee of Russia announced in the morning that the head of the department, Alexander Bastrykin, had instructed to open a criminal case. He also took control of the investigation and instructed to submit a report to him. It is clarified that this decision was made after requests from the relatives of the victims to bring the organizer of the trip to justice.

The disappearance of a group of tourists in Karelia became known on July 20. The Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations reported that they were not registered in the department's database. The search operation involved 10 specialists and three pieces of equipment, including an Mi-8 helicopter from the Northwestern Aviation Search and Rescue Center. Later, on July 23, rescuers brought to the surface the body of one of the tourists.

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