Police Raids After Fatal UAZ Accident on Baikal
Police conducted a raid to identify drivers who travel outside the official ice crossing to Olkhon, following an accident that killed a tourist from China, as reported on January 30 in the Telegram channel of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for the Irkutsk Region.
Note that the ice crossing from the village of Kurkut to Irkutskaya Guba Bay is currently not operational. It is scheduled to open in about two weeks, tentatively on February 12. For now, all those wishing to reach Olkhon must travel on hovercrafts (air-cushion vehicles).
«Today, in just the first hour of such a raid, police recorded about 10 drivers who ventured onto the ice, as well as one case of transporting passengers without permits,» police said.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs also reminded that driving onto the ice outside of a crossing is not only life-threatening but also punishable by a fine under Article 8.42 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation.
The crossing to Olkhon across Lake Baikal ice will operate as long as weather and ice conditions permit. It is usually closed around mid-March. Last year, this happened on the 20th, and it started operating quite late – from February 19. All of this was due to an abnormally warm winter.
Recall that the fatal accident occurred on the ice of Lake Baikal on the morning of January 28. A UAZ off-road vehicle (nicknamed «bukhanka» or «loaf») fell into a crevice near the Malomorets area and overturned. As a result of the accident, a 75-year-old Chinese woman who had come to the region for vacation died, and several others were injured.
The Investigative Committee has opened a criminal case under the article «Provision of services that do not meet safety requirements, resulting in death through negligence.» The driver of the «bukhanka» has been charged. As it turned out, he never even had a driver«s license.
