Relatives of deceased shift workers criticize position of investigators

Relatives of the workers who died when a shift bus fell into the Kerch Strait are dissatisfied with the fact that only a driver and a bus owner are accused of the incident. The relatives want to initiate criminal proceedings against the employer company and demand compensation for material and moral harm.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that a bus with workers of the "Tamanneftegaz" fell into the Kerch Strait on August 25, 2017.

As a result of the incident, 21 people died: 18 drowned when the bus fell into the water and three others died later in the hospital, the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent was informed on April 11 by an officer from the press service of the Investigating Department for the Krasnodar Territory of the Investigating Committee of the Russian Federation (ICRF).

On April 6, it became known that the court sentenced Karapet Mikaelyan, a driver of the shift bus, to 4.5 years of imprisonment in a penal colony.

Relatives of the deceased workers were informed that according to the contract between the company and the private entrepreneur, "all responsibility for safety was to be borne by the owner of the buses," said Polina Danilova, a mother of a deceased installation worker.

"It turns out that the 'Interstroi' is not involved in the incident. Meanwhile, the people who travelled with the bus had signed an agreement with the 'Interstroi'. That means that the company is responsible for them. It's not enough for us to punish the driver and the bus owner. We want the employees of the company to be brought to responsibility," said Polina Danilova.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.