ALMATY, Sept. 25 (Xinhua) -- The death toll among Kazakh Naval Forces servicemen swept out to sea during naval drills on Thursday has risen to 12, the Kazakh Defense Ministry said.
A total of 17 people were carried off by waves during the exercise on the Caspian coast in Kazakhstan's southwestern Mangystau region amid sharply deteriorating weather conditions, including intensifying winds, the ministry said in a statement.
Three of those swept to sea have been rescued, and the search for the other two is still underway, the ministry said.
Earlier, the ministry said nine soldiers had died.
A criminal case has been opened over the incident, the country's Prosecutor General's Office said.
A nationwide day of mourning was declared in Kazakhstan on Friday, according to the presidential press service. ■
