Nine people have been confirmed killed in a 30-meter, 150,000 m3 landslide that hit four houses in the village of Nergeeti, Baghdati, in Georgia’s Imereti region, on Tuesday night. Temur Mgebrishvili, the head of the emergency management service, is in the disaster zone supervising the ongoing rescue and clean-up work.
“Over 200 fire fighters and rescuers, representatives of various units of the local government and the Ministry of Internal Affairs are on the scene, as is equipment, drones, and a group of canine experts,” the Ministry of Internal Affairs announced Wednesday morning. Rescuers said Thursday that they had recovered all nine bodies of the victims missing after hours of searching the area.
Locals say there were three minors among those trapped in the landslide, who died together with their father.
Strong wind, flood hit Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti region
Strong wind in the Martvili, Chkhorotsku, and Tsalenjikha districts of the western Samegrelo region on Tuesday ripped the roofs from houses and other buildings, including the Rukhi village public school. The Chkhori culture house and ethnic Sisatura village were also damaged.
The wind uprooted trees in Tsalenjikha villages and damaged electricity transmission lines. The electricity supply was cut off, and restoration works were carried out on Wednesday.
The Enguri River swelled and flooded areas of Anaklia.
Traffic was restricted on the Jvari-Mestia road, which was hit by an avalanche Tuesday night. Nineteen people trapped there were quickly rescued.
Giorgi Guguchia, the Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti Regional Envoy, said that all special services had been mobilized and were working in emergency mode Wednesday. Special commissions are working to calculate the inflicted damage.
Avalanche blocks central road of Tago village, Khulo municipality
Vakhtang Beridze, Mayor of the Khulo municipality in Adjara, reported Wednesday that an avalanche had hit the central road in Tago village. No-one was injured.
Beridze added that due to heavy rainfall, electricity has been cut off from several villages.
The Adjara Roads Department began clearing both central and internal rural roads Wednesday.
Heavy rainfall hits villages of Dusheti, Tianeti and Mtskheta municipalities
On Tuesday night, heavy rainfall restricted traffic movement and also affected the electricity supply in villages in the Dusheti, Tianeti and Mtskheti municipalities.
Cleaning works were carried out on both central and connecting roads between villages Wednesday, while emergency crews sought to restore the electricity supply.
By Team GT
