Russian cruise ship carrying US, German tourists collides with barge on Volga, no one hurt

Russian cruise ship collides with barge

MOSCOW — A Russian cruise ship carrying hundreds of U.S. and German tourists collided with a barge on the Volga River on Wednesday, but no one was hurt, officials said.

The collision occurred early in the morning in the Rybinsk reservoir on the Volga River, said the Russian Emergency Situations Ministry’s branch in the Yaroslavl region. The barge carrying sand hit the cruise liner Sergei Kirov, piercing a hole in its starboard side.

The ministry said that none of the 202 tourists and 91 crew members aboard suffered any injuries and that the crew quickly patched the hole.

Alina Tukhvatshina of the Emergency Situations Ministry said the tourists were moved to other boats, then returned to Moscow by bus.

The U.S. and German embassies said they were both informed by Russian officials that no passengers were hurt and that assistance was unneeded.