The director of “Alash-Travel” Orlan Kirov perished while rafting down the Kyzyk-Khem river with a group of tourists. He was the head of the Tourist Association of the republic. The raft used by thye tour group capsized at the first rapids 60 km from Ush-Beldir, in a remote area of Tuva. Everybody survived except the tour guide Orlan Kirov, one of the most experienced tourists of the republic.
On August 7, a group of three rescuers was dropped by a helicopter in the area of the accident. Another group of searchers started out in the upstream direction from the settlement Erzhei on inflatable boats to meet them, as the Emergency administration of Tuva announced.
On Asugust 9, Orlan Kirov’s body was discovered by the residents of Old Believer communities of Tuva near the “Uzkiy” (Narrow) rapid. On August 10, the body was transferred to the rescuers taken by an inflatable boat from Saryg-Chaza- of Kaa-Khem district to Kyzyl.
The causesd and circumstances of Orlan Kirov’s death are under investigation. It is known that the group of tourists from Kemerovo was not registered with local Emergency administration.
Orlan Sergeyevich Kirov had been active in tourism since childhood. The “Alash-Travel” company offered many varieties of active vacation in the republic: water rafting, mountain trekking, horseback tours. Orlan Kirov was many times recognized as a winner of the republican contest for “Enterpreneur of the Year” in the field of tourism. As one of the most experienced organizers of tourism in Tuva, he was selected by his colleagues as thye leader of Tourism association, which was founded this year.
