Emergency meeting in Oni municipality discusses ongoing rescue measures over disaster in Georgia’s western resort

The ongoing rescue measures in the disaster area in the country’s western Oni municipality, after a landslide hit the area earlier during the day, were discussed at the emergency meeting in the Oni municipality City Hall, the Interior Ministry said on Thursday.

The decision to activate a hotline was made at the emergency meeting, which will give citizens the opportunity to share information about missing persons and contact the relevant units.

• Interior Ministry: About 70 individuals “transferred to safety” from Georgia’s western landslide-affected resort

Deputy Interior ministers Ioseb Chelidze and Giorgi Butkhuzi, Teimuraz Mgebrishvili, the Head of the Emergency Management Service, Infrastructure Minister Irakli Karseladze and Zaza Tshkakaia, the Director of the Police Department of Imereti, Racha-Lechkhumi and Kvemo Svaneti, as well as Merab Gamkrelidze, the Deputy Head of Regional Development Department of the Government Administration and representatives of local government attended the meeting.

In his comments to the media, Gamkrelidze said the rescuers were searching for about 50 missing people, whose family members had contacted the hotline.

As part of the rescue efforts, the rescuers found several people in the forest near the disaster area, the Interior Ministry told the Public Broadcaster.