Flood threats eliminated in Svaneti where glacier partially collapsed

Danger from a large amount of ice that broke off from the Lekhziri Glacier in Mestia municipality has been eliminated, the Emergency Management Service said last night.

The ice collapsed about 400 meters away from the glacier tongue yesterday and caused a large amount of water in the valley threatening the nearest rivers to flood.

"The level of water has decreased and the adjacent area is not threatened any more,” says the statement released by the service.

The National Environmental Agency says that data taken from the the hydrological station located near the mouth of the river Mulkhura and Mestiachala show that the level of the water in the rivers is within the norm.

However, workers of the ​ Emergency Management Service are still mobilised at the site of incident in case of any complications.

Lekhziri Glacier is a valley glacier with a length of more than 11 kilometers located on the southern slopes of the Greater Caucasus Mountain Range in Svaneti.

Specialists from the National Environmental Agency suggest that the collapse has been caused by the intense melting of the glacier during summer.