Ufa rafts saved lives of dozens of people in Lake Baikal

UFA, 7 August 2015. /Bashinform News Agency, Alim Faizov/. On last Sunday, at 17.00 the catamaran passenger ship Barguzin-2, owned by the East Siberian River Shipping Company, caught fire in Lake Baikal. At the time of the fire there were 116 passengers and six crew members on board of the ship.

The ship's crew worked professionally, the press service of the East Siberian River Shipping Company reports. Promptly all passengers were given life jackets, evacuation on life rafts was organized. At the same time a private yacht came, which crew rendered great assistance in evacuation of the passengers. At 20.00 the fire was extinguished.

Despite the fact that part of the life rafts had been destroyed in the fire of the vessel, the remaining four twenty-seat rafts opened and fully performed their saving functions. According to media reports, Barguzin-2 was equipped with life-saving means manufactured by JSC "Ufa Plant of Elastomeric Materials, Products and Designs" (JSC "UZEMIK"). These are primarily life rafts and life jackets.

Due to trouble-free work of national rescue equipment, it was managed to save the lives of dozens of people, and this despite the fact that the water temperature in Lake Baikal, even in summer does not exceed 10-12 degrees, and there was a real risk of hypothermia people in distress.