The rescue operation involving helicopters in Shovi resumed in the morning, and by this time, 140 more people have been evacuated from the disaster zone. Temur Mghebrishvili, head of the Emergency Management Agency of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, announced this to the media. In addition, the Minister of Regional Development and Infrastructure, Irakli Karseladze, said that they could not locate 35 people.
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“From 7:30 in the morning today, we started evacuating the people who were mobilized yesterday from the epicenter to safe places by helicopters. Today we rescued 140 people.
We are working everywhere within the epicenter. There is nothing but rubble where the cottages stood, where we have not been able to get to yet because there is a rather thick layer of land mass, and our firemen and rescuers are simply getting bogged down. That's why we are bringing in equipment to cut a path through so we can reach there,” stated Mghebrishvili.
According to Parmen Margvelidze, State Commissioner of Racha-Lechkhum and Kvemo Svaneti, a total of 210 people were evacuated from the disaster zone yesterday and today. 2 helicopters of the border police, about 400 firefighters and employees of various units of the Ministry of Internal Affairs are involved in the rescue operation.
The landslide occurred on August 3, around 15:15, triggering a mudslide in the valley. The catastrophic event was developing for more than an hour. Hotels and cottages in the resort area are built in the floodplain, which has been fully consumed by the flood. Several small cottages were destroyed, hotels were damaged, cars were swept away by the flood. The rescue operation in the disaster area started with a 3-hour delay. The bridges on the only road leading to Shovi have been washed away by the mudslide. The rescuers were able to reach the disaster site only with the helicopters of the border police. It has been confirmed that the bodies of two people have been found in the disaster zone.
Despite the heavy rainfall in the past few days, the Ministry of Environmental Protection did not warn the population about the expected natural processes.
