The Winteriada 2009 sports events on Lake Baikal are under threat of cancellation. The emergency ministry recommends canceling the ice crossing from Listvyanka to Tankhoy and the raft race on ice because the ice is too thin. Specialists warn that going onto the lake is dangerous and remind of recent accidents, including a car that fell through the ice near Kultuk. Despite this, people wanting to take part in the ice competitions are already signing up, and in Listvyanka the ice is only 15 cm thick.
The holding of sporting events on Lake Baikal, planned as part of “Zimniada-2009,” is under threat of cancellation. Employees of the Ministry of Emergency Situations recommend that the organizers of the international festival “Zimniada-2009” cancel the ice crossing “Listvyanka-Tankhoy” and the “Ice Floe Rafting.” According to specialists, the ice on the lake is too thin, and going out onto it is dangerous.However, groups of people willing to take part in the ice marathon across Lake Baikal from Tankhoy to Listvyanka and in the ice floe rafting are already being formed. The ice this year is much thinner than usual. Several accidents have already been recorded. Thus, this weekend in the Kultuk area, a Niva vehicle fell through a crack. There were five residents of the settlement in it. Three managed to escape, two — a young man and a young woman — died. Employees of the Ministry of Emergency Situations urge people not to go out onto the ice of Lake Baikal unless absolutely necessary and remind that officially only one ice crossing is open on the lake, from Kurkut Bay to Olkhon Island.
Petr Us, Chief State Inspector of GIMS of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Russia for the Irkutsk Region: “Yesterday an ice reconnaissance was carried out on Lake Baikal. In the area of the settlement of Listvyanka the ice is thin, only 15 cm. But there are again people who, for some reason, want to get some kind of pleasure, driving around in cars. The ice under the cars gives way, cracks, and bends.”