Two women have died after an 'overloaded' tourist boat sank at a Russian resort on the Black Sea.
The vessel was said to be carrying five times too many passengers when it overturned and tragedy struck.
The captain fled the scene but was later detained and accused of cramming 55 people on an unsafe and unlicensed vessel with a capacity of only a dozen.
There was panic as the 40 foot-long Atoll lurched from side to side in the water with holidaymakers dancing on an “unsafe” makeshift upper deck causing the motorboat to violently roll.
Two women - named as Anna Sh, 34, Svetlana A, 42 - died after being pulled from the water alive, say the Russian authorities.
Fifteen children were among dozens plucked from the water by rescuers.
A witness said: "The catastrophe was inevitable.
“We saw people dancing there – they climbed on the roof and the boat was swinging from side to side.
“When it lurched one way, everyone rushed to the other side to keep the balance.”
But the boat keeled over.
Passengers were thrown in the water and the boat sank.
“People were shouting, screaming for help.”
Small boats staged a rescue operation after the vessel got into trouble off Dzhubga resort in Krasnodar region.
The Atoll was used for tourist trips despite criticism five years ago.
Instead an upper level was fitted which was “unsafe”, according to Dmitry Srebny, boss of the company that originally built the vessel.
“Greediness of the owners made them blind,” he said.
“They forgot about the sailing features of the boat”.
The 56-year-old captain will be detained for two months following the weekend boat horror.
Regional deputy transport prosecutor Valery Kozlov said Verenchuk did not have a license for carrying tourists.
