Two bodies recovered, 50 evacuated from landslide-hit areas in western Georgia
The Interior Ministry employees continue to evacuate individuals from the disaster-hit localities in western Georgia. Photo: Avtandil Talakvadze’s Facebook
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Two bodies have been recovered and about 50 individuals, including children, evacuated after landslides and flood hit the Guria and Adjara regions in Georgia's west on Thursday and early on Friday, the Georgian Interior Ministry confirmed on Friday.
One body belonged to an elderly woman, while another to a minor, and one minor still remained missing, the body added.
Temur Mgebrishvili, the head of the Emergency Management Service, on Friday said 200 employees from his agency had been present in the disaster zone, along with the representatives of different units from the country’s Interior Ministry, with heavy hardware being involved in search and cleaning efforts.
He noted his body had received more than 400 notifications from the disaster zone from both regions, which he claimed were being rechecked and responded to.
Mgebrishvili stressed heavy, off-road hardware had been ensured to reach the localities particularly affected by landslides and help the communities stranded in particular villages, adding there was no need to use a helicopter.
Houses have been flooded or swept away, while bridges, roads and other infrastructure were “severely damaged” in the affected municipalities, the official said.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili and the visiting EU High Commissioner Josep Borrell extended their condolences to the families of those killed in the disaster earlier during the day.
Rescuers working in a landslide-hit area in Georgia’s west on Friday recovered a body of a minor in the village of Jumati of Ozurgeti municipality.
Deputy Interior ministers Ioseb Chelidze and Giorgi Butkhuzi, as well as the Head of the Emergency Management Service Temur Mghebrishvili, on Saturday inspected the disaster zone in the western municipality of Oni, after a landslide killed at least 11 in the Shovi resort on Thursday, from the helicopter together with the families of missing persons.
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.
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.
Rescuers of the Emergency Management Service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs on Friday found the third body in the disaster zone in Georgia's western Guria region, which was hit by landslides and flood this week.
At least 200 individuals have been evacuated from landslide-hit areas of the Guria region in Georgia’s west following heavy rains, flood and landslides last week that killed three, local authorities said on Monday.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili on Monday said 105 families would be offered alternative accommodation after landslides and flood hit the Guria region in the country’s west last week, pledging “maximum” support for disaster-affected communities.
Giorgi Urushadze, the State Representative in Georgia's western Guria region, on Thursday said all internal footpath access roads were restored by professionals working in areas affected by landslides and floods last week.
Avtandil Talakvadze, the Mayor of the Ozurgeti Municipality in Georgia's western Guria region, on Wednesday said 152 families had received compensation from the Government following the landslide and flood that hit the locality in September.