A tragedy struck during exercises of the Naval Forces of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Kazakhstan in the Mangystau Region: while carrying out a training and combat mission on the Caspian Sea coast, servicemen were swept out to open sea due to a sharp deterioration in weather conditions and strengthening winds. According to preliminary data, nine people died, the website infohub.kz reports.
A video from the scene was published by Azamat Sarsenbayev, a blogger from Aktau. The footage shows the area where the events unfolded.
According to the Ministry of Defense, 19 servicemen were swept out to sea. The deaths of nine of them have been confirmed so far. Three were rescued, and one of the survivors has been hospitalized. The search for the others continues.
The Prosecutor General's Office said a criminal case has been opened and is being investigated into the deaths of the servicemen during the exercises at the Aktau garrison.