Georgian PM, Gov’t members pay tribute to firefighter who died during fire in Tbilisi

Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze on Thursday paid a tribute to Giorgi Lelashvili, a firefighter and civil security lieutenant of the country’s Emergency Management Service, who died in the line of duty during a firefighting operation in the country’s capital of Tbilisi last week, the Interior Ministry said.

The PM, Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili, Interior Minister Vakhtang Gomelauri, Tbilisi Mayor Kakha Kaladze, Deputy Interior Minister Ioseb Chelidze, and Temur Mgebrishvili, the Head of Service, joined a civil funeral with a guard of honour at St. George's Cathedral in Tbilisi.

The public funeral saw senior officials and employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, firefighters and representatives of the Service administration pay tributes to the fire officer.

The 42-year-old Lelashvili, who had served as a firefighter for 12 years and been involved in “numerous significant operations”, received fatal injuries from a collapsing wall during the firefighting operation in a building on Ilia Chavchavadze Avenue.

The guard of honour saluted the memory of the firefighter and handed the Georgian national flag to his family.