“Lake Baikal is unforgiving,” Gov. Igor Kobzev wrote on social media after the incident on Friday, Feb. 20

Tourists were killed after a vehicle carrying them fell into Lake Baikal.Credit : Russian Investigative Committee/Anadolu via Getty

At least eight people, including one child, are dead after a tourist bus fell through the ice at Lake Baikal.

On Friday, Feb. 20, a tourist bus carrying a driver and at least seven Chinese tourists sank through the ice and became trapped in Russia’s Lake Baikal, Irkutsk regional Gov. Igor Kobzev wrote on Telegram. While eyewitnesses alleged that one of the tourists managed to escape, preliminary reports indicated that the remaining victims died in the tragic incident.

Kobzev also shared in an update that the width of the ice crack where the vehicle was trapped measured approximately 3 meters (nearly 10 feet) and the depth of the lake at the site of the incident was 18 meters (59 feet) deep.

With the help of underwater cameras, rescuers were able to initially discover and identify five victims: the driver, a 44-year-old local resident and four tourists. Of the four tourists — including a married couple, their 14-year-old child and another female relative — one survived.

Chinese tourists were killed after a vehicle carrying them fell into Lake Baikal.Russian Investigative Committee/Anadolu via Getty

“I would like to remind you once again that going out onto the ice of Lake Baikal is not just prohibited right now. It is mortally dangerous,” Kobzev wrote of the world’s deepest freshwater lake. “I urge tourists to use only official tour operators! Furthermore, I have instructed the relevant agencies to conduct investigations to identify illegal operators in tourist areas.”

The following day, Kobsev confirmed on Telegram that the divers recovered the bodies of eight victims, including the driver of the vehicle and seven Chinese citizens. He also expressed that “this tragedy has taught people nothing,” as an SUV with a woman and child inside was discovered in an ice trap 5 kilometers (around 3 miles) from the shore that same day.

On the morning of Saturday, Feb. 21, another vehicle carrying four vacationers partially sank into the water. While they were unable to escape the dangerous situation on their own, they were rescued and taken to shore by Kivus.

Chinese tourists were killed after a vehicle carrying them fell into Lake Baikal.Russian Investigative Committee/Anadolu via Getty

“I’d like to add that the official ice road is currently not open,” Kobsev emphasized on Telegram. “I’d like to once again appeal to everyone planning a trip to Lake Baikal: Before you, against your better judgment, decide to drive onto the ice, think about it. Is it really worth it?”

“Some have already made the wrong choice,” he added. “The lesson was fatal. And there will be no second chance, because Lake Baikal is unforgiving.”

Following the tragic death of the Chinese tourists, the Irkutsk tourism office reported that the bus tour had been run by an unregistered operator, per the Washington Post.

In a Feb. 21 press release, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov sent his condolences to the Foreign Minister of the People’s Republic of China, Wang Yi, and stated that Russian authorities are conducting a “full-scale investigation into the incident.”