Rescuers find the final victim of the Kabardino-Balkaria avalanche, marking Russia’s deadliest mountain disaster since 2002
The body of the 17th person killed in an avalanche in Kabardino-Balkaria has been found, RIA Novosti reported, citing a representative of the regional branch of Russia’s Emergency Situations Ministry.
“The search-and-rescue operation is now over,” the representative told the news agency. At the time of publication, the regional Emergency Situations Ministry’s official website had not confirmed that the operation had ended.
On September 6, an avalanche on Mount Mizhirgi struck a group of 33 climbers on a slope in the Bezengi Gorge. By midday on September 9, rescuers from the Emergency Situations Ministry had found the bodies of 14 climbers, while three others remained missing. Rescuers found two more bodies over the next several days and continued searching for the final victim.
Some of those killed were members of Russia’s National Guard who had come to the area for mountain training.
It was the deadliest incident in Russia’s mountains since 2002.
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