In 2019, 150 Russian tourists died in Turkish resorts, and 31 more in the Istanbul consular district, Russian Ambassador to Ankara Alexey Yerkhov told RIA Novosti.
"It is sad to note that during the past tourist season, 154 of our citizens died in the Mediterranean resorts of Turkey, 31 more people - in the Istanbul consular district, and 68 sanitary and medical evacuations were carried out", the Russian diplomat noted in particular.
According to Yerkhov, these figures are slightly less than in 2018, but they are "very, very unpleasant".
"If we compare with 2018, last year there were no mass cases of citizens complaining about enteroviruses, while complaints about the quality of food and individual cases of poisoning, of course, were reported. Thank God, we managed to avoid major, serious accidents with tourist buses. But the number of deaths of our citizens as a result of drowning has increased significantly, especially for children", the Ambassador said.
According to Yerkhov, the majority of deaths were caused by an exacerbation of chronic diseases.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
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