Five military officials detained in Kazakhstan after deaths of 14 servicemen — Daily Maverick

Five officials from Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Defense, including the first deputy commander of the naval forces, were detained after 14 servicemen died during exercises on the Caspian Sea coast. This was reported by Daily Maverick, citing Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Internal Affairs.

Tragedy during landing

The incident occurred on Thursday when servicemen were disembarking from a patrol boat in bad weather. The people were swept out to sea, resulting in the deaths of 14 people. Three other people who ended up in the water were rescued.

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The detained senior officials are suspected of negligence and violating navigation rules. Investigators are examining the decisions made by these officials, compliance with safety rules, consideration of weather conditions, as well as the technical condition of the patrol boat.

National day of mourning

Kazakhstan’s President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev declared Friday a national day of mourning. Kazakhstan’s naval forces, numbering around 3,000 servicemen, are based on the Caspian Sea. They use patrol and missile boats to protect the maritime border and offshore energy infrastructure facilities.