400 rescuers, two helicopters involved in search operation after landslide hits western Georgian municipality
In total, 210 individuals have been evacuated from the disaster zone. Photo: Interior Ministry press office
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The Georgian Interior Ministry on Friday said 400 rescuers and two helicopters were involved in the search and rescue operation for about 35 missing individuals after a landslide hit the Oni municipality in the Racha region in the country’s west on Thursday.
The body confirmed early on Friday 140 individuals had been evacuated from the disaster zone following the initial transfer of 70 persons to a safe zone late on Thursday.
The death toll in the disaster has reached six, the Ministry also told Agenda.ge in the early hours on Friday.
Teimuraz Mgebrishvili, the head of the Emergency Management Service, said cottage areas in Shovi resort had been “completely destroyed” by the landslide, with masses of soil spread on "a large area" and complicating rescue operations.
Irakli Karseladze, the Infrastructure Minister, said in a Friday update at least 35 individuals were missing.
Along with the rescuers, employees of Imereti, Racha-Lechkhumi and Kvemo Svaneti police departments are involved in the operations, the Interior Ministry said, adding more than 20 pieces of special hardware were also being used in the efforts.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili is expected to visit the disaster zone on Friday.
Merab Gamkrelidze, the Deputy Head of Regional Development Department of the Government Administration, late on Thursday said the rescuers, working in the disaster area in Georgia’s western Shovi resort, after a landslide hit the area earlier during the day, were currently searching for about 50 missing people, including children.
The Georgian Interior Ministry on Thursday said about 70 individuals had been transferred to a safe venue from the disaster area as a result of the ongoing rescue operations in the country’s western Oni municipality, after a landslide hit the area earlier during the day.
The Interior Ministry said about 40 individuals have been evacuated from the disaster zone in Georgia’s western Shovi resort, after a landslide hit the area earlier during the day.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili on Friday left for the area in western Georgia’s Shovi resort hit by a landslide on Thursday, the Government Administration said.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili on Friday met staff of rescue services working in the western municipality of Oni to find remaining survivors after a landslide killed six in the Shovi resort on Thursday.
Teams of Georgia’s Red Cross Society on Friday arrived in the Oni municipality of western Georgia to ensure support for rescuers and communities affected by the landslide that hit the Shovi resort on Thursday.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili on Friday said his Government had decided to declare Monday as a day of mourning following a landslide that hit western Georgia’s Shovi resort, killing at least seven people on Thursday.
Maia Bitadze, the head of the Environment Protection and Natural Resources Committee of the Georgian Parliament, on Friday said there was “no threat” of a repeat landslide in the western Oni municipality, after a disaster killed seven on Thursday.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili on Friday said units from the Georgian Defence Forces would join the ongoing search and rescue operations in the western municipality of Oni to find remaining survivors after a landslide killed at least 11 in the Shovi resort on Thursday.
Georgian Defence Forces on Friday said its units had departed to join the ongoing search and rescue operations in the western municipality of Oni to find remaining survivors after a landslide killed at least 11 in the Shovi resort on Thursday.