Searching operations for three lost hunters continue in eastern Georgia

Search continues for three Georgian hunters who went missing 20 days ago after they got lost due to heavy snow.

Georgia’s Deputy Interior Ministers Shalva Khutsishvili and Merab Malania met with the parents and relatives of the lost hunters and briefed them about the current search activities.

The young men went on hunting on December 20, 2015 and their mothers do not know their whereabouts since then. Photo by the Interior Ministry's Press Office. 

The officials said that earlier reports about the three men being allegedly found in Dagestan, North Caucasus republic under the Russian rule, turned out to be false.

"The Interior Ministry has confirmed information that no Georgian citizen has been detained for illegal crossing of the Russian border near Dagestan in this specific period of time,” the officials said.

Earlier it was believed that the three hunters could have found themselves in Dagestan after they could not find the right way back home. On January 7 the Georgian media outlet - Kakheti Information Centre - spread the information that the people were in Dagestan, detained there for alleged illegal crossing of border.

The locals of Kabali village, eastern Lagodekhi municipality, announced on December 29 that their four residents went for hunting and could not get back as heavy snow and storm hit the area.

On December 31 only one returned out of the three as he managed to walk faster than others. The one did not have information about the whereabouts of his friends Levan Jalalovi, Avtandil Samkharadze and Davit Samkharadze.

All the relevant bodies have been involved in the searching operations in these days; helicopters were also used during the process.

The Interior Ministry pledged the searching activities would continue until the men are found.