Tokayev orders probe into servicemen’s deaths during Caspian drills

BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 24.
President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has instructed the
Government Commission to take all necessary measures to establish
the circumstances surrounding the deaths of servicemen during
military exercises in the Mangystau region on September 24, the
press service of the Kazakh president said.

“President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev expressed his deep
condolences to the families and relatives of the servicemen who
died as a result of a tragic incident during military exercises in
the Mangystau region,” the press service said.

The president also instructed the Government
Commission to assist the families of those who died.

The Ministry of Emergency Situations reported earlier
today that 19 servicemen had been swept into the sea during
exercises in the Mangystau region on the Caspian Sea coast. The
deaths of nine servicemen have been confirmed so far. Three
servicemen were rescued, including one who was hospitalized. The
search for the remaining servicemen is ongoing.

According to the ministry, rescue forces and
equipment were immediately dispatched to the scene. Units of the
Naval Forces, the Ministry of Emergency Situations, aviation, and
other relevant services are involved in the search and rescue
operation.

Following the incident, a Government Commission was
established by order of Kazakhstan’s Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov
to investigate the causes of the servicemen’s deaths.

The commission includes the Minister of Defense,
representatives of the Akimat of Mangystau region, senior officials
from the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of the Population,
the Ministry of Emergency Situations, the Ministry of Healthcare
and the Ministry of Transport, as well as the Chief Military
Prosecutor and representatives of the Border Service.

Bektenov instructed Commission Chairman Kanat
Bozumbayev to immediately travel to the emergency site and begin
work to ensure a comprehensive investigation into the causes of the
servicemen’s deaths and provide assistance to the families of those
who died.