A small-sized passenger boat rammed into a cargo barge and sank on the Moscow river on Sunday, at 1:30 a.m., the Investigative Committee said.
As a result 9 people, including the boat captain Gennady Zinger, are reported dead. Their bodies have been brought to surface. Seven passengers survived, among them a Turkish national.
The vessel, which was registered in Russia's easternmost province of Chukotka, was carrying a total of 16 people, including the captain, while it had permission to carry no more than 12 passengers, RIA Novosti reports.
Zinger was brought to an administrative penalty for exceeding the number of passengers on board three times in 2011.
The Investigative Committee has launched a criminal probe into the violation of water transport safety and operation rules.