Emergency Management Service staff pay tribute to victims of deadly Tbilisi flood on 8th anniversary

Employees of the Emergency Management Service of the Georgian Interior Ministry on Tuesday paid tribute to the 21 victims of the deadly 2015 flood in Tbilisi, in an event marking eight years since the city’s worst human and infrastructure disaster in decades. 

Agency professionals laid flowers at the memorial of victims of the flood and also commemorated Zurab Muzashvili, their deceased colleague who saved six people during the disaster before he died in an attempt to search for other survivors, the Service said. 

The Service was the main responding body during the flood, with its personnel working in the epicentre of the affected area and ensuring search and recovery works for several weeks after the flood. 

The remains of two individuals who were caught in the flash flood that followed heavy overnight rain on the date are still missing.

Beside taking the lives of citizens, the disaster also decimated the downtown Tbilisi Zoo, which lost half of its animal population in the flood. A sculpture of hippopotamus Begi, which escaped the Zoo during the flood, was unveiled by Tbilisi City Hall in Mziuri Park, a popular recreational area in the city, last year in memory of the tragic events.