Irkutsk regional governor Igor Kobzev said in a post on social media today that the impact incident on frozen Siberian Lake Baikal was the third in just two days.
Divers were forced to use remote equipment to find the tourists after the incident (Image:Â Anadolu via Getty Images)
Eight people have died in a horrific mass drowning after a tour bus packed with tourists plunged through an ice floor and into a freezing lake.
Russian officials said the bus carrying Chinese nationals collapsed as it passed through ice-covered Lake Baikal in southern Siberia, the world’s oldest and deepest freshwater lake.
Authorities said eight people died and one man managed to escape from the vehicle, with Irkutsk regional governor Igor Kobzev revealing that the dead included a 14-year-old child and seven tourists, including the bus driver.
According to emergency services, while the incident took place in a comparatively shallow part of the lake, rescue teams had to use cameras to locate the tourists before beginning diving operations.
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According to emergency services, the bus fell into a 10-foot-deep gorge. (Image: Anadolu via Getty Images)
Russia’s emergency ministry said in an update that the bus fell into a 10-foot-wide icy crevasse and through a point in the lake nearly 60 feet deep.
The water was so cold that rescue workers from the ministry were forced to use underwater cameras to explore the area before beginning diving operations.
Regional prosecutors have also launched a criminal investigation following the shock deaths, with the Irkutsk tourist office reporting earlier today that the bus was allegedly driven by an unregistered operator.
The fatal incident would be a major blow to local tourism, which was experiencing a boom under a mutual agreement between Moscow and Beijing allowing visa-free travel.
Lake Baikal is one of the country’s most popular attractions, receiving three to four million tourists in 2019 alone.
The majority of tourists come from China, with data for 2025 showing people from the Russian ally nation accounting for about 51 per cent of visitors.
This fatal incident is one of three that occurred in just two short days (Image:Â Anadolu via Getty Images)
However, last year’s total declined by about 1.6 per cent compared to the previous year following the introduction of the visa-free regime.
Sergei Romashkin, vice president of Russia’s Association of Tour Operators, said the new agreement would see a big increase in visitors during the summer.
The Baikal incident was one of several in recent years that have resulted in fatalities, and it prompted a warning on Telegram from Mr Kobzev, who said the ice was “deadly dangerous”.
“I would like to remind you once again that going on the ice of Lake Baikal is not prohibited yet.
“It is life-threatening,” he said. Shortly after the incident, Mr Kobzev posted on Telegram that the tragedy occurred after two other men complained that he “did not teach people a lesson”.
Emergency services had to rescue six people stuck in their cars on the ice during previous incidents on Friday and Saturday.
A Chinese tourist lost his life late last month when his car overturned on Baikal’s frozen surface.
