Nine people have been confirmed dead on Sunday after an overloaded excursion boat sank overnight after striking a barge in the Moskva river in the Russian capital Moscow.
Among the dead was the 50-year-old captain of the small pleasure boat called Lastotschka (Swallow), the Interfax news agency reported, quoting the transit authorities.
According to various sources there were 16 passengers and crew aboard the vessel. Civil protection authorities reported that seven people were rescued, two of whom were hospitalized.
The passengers had apparently been celebrating a birthday when they went down in three metres of water during the hours of darkness.
Those rescued included Russians and Turks and were reported to be aged 25 to 38.
The boat was licensed to carry a maximum of 12 persons, and Interfax reported the captain had disregarded basic safety instructions.
In a separate incident in the Russian republic of Karelia in the north-west of European Russia, a ship sank on Onega Lake. Two people are reported to have drowned.
The accidents occurred three weeks after the sinking of the excursion ship Bulgaria in the Volga, which saw the deaths of 122
people. - Sapa-dpa