Car crashes on roads and unfortunate accidents – the main reasons of death amongst Russian tourists

During the first half of 2012, 59 incidents were reported to have happened to Russian citizens in different countries. That number is significantly lower than figures taken from the same period of time a year earlier, in 2011, when there were 96 reported accidents. As a result of the accidents 37 Russians died while on holiday, that’s 3 times more than during the first half of 2011. Specifically, 27 unfortunate accidents happened to Russian tourists during the period from January-June of this year, compared to 31 during the same period last year. Such is the data from the information database of the Russian Tour Industry Union, which collects incidents from all open sources, that are in one way or another related to tourists.

Our country continues an unfortunate tradition, showing the largest number of casualties during a vacation. This can be explained statistically, because the majority of compatriots prefer national resorts. But this year, Thailand has started to catch up to our country in this tragic indicator. In the first half of the year 14 holiday makers died in Russia and 7 in Thailand, which takes 2nd place on the list. What is more, last year Thailand was in fifth place with three casualties. Third place in this half year was divided between India, Cypress and France – with 2 casualties while on holiday.

But in the amount of injuries while on holidays – 224 – Russia is in front with a massive margin. Here Thailand is also in second place, with 29 injuries. After that it’s Turkey and Vietnam, both with 10 injuries each.

We remind you that it’s not worth making a decision based on these figures as to which country is more dangerous to holiday in, whether it’s in our own country or not. In relation to the total number of tourists the number of tragedies in any case is insignificant, if such a word can be used in this instance, when speaking about death. Aside from that, statistics show that more often than not, Russians become victims not because of acts of terrorism or criminal acts, but because of unfortunate road accidents, from which no one is ever really insured (not in the straight sense of the word). 

There were 27 unfortunate incidents which happened to Russian tourists during the course of 6 months. As a result 21 Russians died, and 9 were injured. Most of those incidents happened in Russia – 5, in Thailand, Egypt and in the Ukraine – 3 each, and in India and Turkey – 2 each.

During the last half year, there were 13 road accidents which involved Russian tourists, as a result of which there were 12 dead and 57 injured. The majority of road accidents happened in Russia - 5, in turkey - 3 and in Thailand – 2.

Thailand leads the way in regards to criminal incidents involving tourists, with open sources having fixated 3 over the last half year.

So in what kinds of unfortunate accidents do Russians find themselves?  The most part of accidents and tragedies happen in the water, including in hotel swimming pools, and also problems with Jet skis, surfboards, hydro cycles, scooters, water slides etc. Traditionally there are many accidents in the mountains – falls from cliffs, rockslides, avalanches and the like. From the more unusual cases – the well-known case of the death of a child in Cyprus as a result of running into a glass door in a hotel, and also the case of a man falling with his 9 year old daughter from the 2nd floor of the hotel they were staying in in Turkey, where they were playing a ball game on their balcony.

It’s necessary to make clear that the data collected from open sources is only a statistical slice of the situation regarding the safety of a holiday. A more complete picture could be represented by statistics from insurance companies and from Russian consulates overseas. Then the numbers which show the number of accidents will no doubt be larger, but the positions of countries represented in this list will quite possibly remain the same.