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Search for avalanche-trapped teenagers resumed in Tuva

The task force of 290 people and 35 units of machinery are involved in the search at the avalanche fall site on the Ak-Bashtyg Mount

GORNO-ALTAISK, March 6 (Itar-Tass) – The search for six teenagers, who are entrapped under the avalanche, resumed in the Mongun-Taiga district of the Russian Republic of Tuva on Wednesday morning, Deputy Prime Minister of the republican government Vitaly Bartyna-Sady, who is staying at the tragedy place, told Itar-Tass.

In his words, two teams of 46 rescuers, five teams of police dog handlers and two sappers are involved in the search operation. The task force of 290 people and 35 units of machinery are involved in the search at the avalanche fall site on the Ak-Bashtyg Mount. The weather favours the search, but the clouds already appeared above Ak-Bashtyg, the Tuva vice-premier noted.

Tuva’s leader Sholban Kara-ool, who arrived in the search area on Tuesday evening and headed the work of the emergency headquarters, participated in giving the instructions and the dispatch of the first team of rescuers on the mount.

Over the past day two teams of rescuers and police dog handlers have searched through 1,000 square metres. The snow is 5-6 metres deep in the search area. The rescuers used the special equipment and measuring probes in the search, but they failed to find any lost teenagers.

Over stronger north-western winds of up to 22 metres per second and a snow blizzard the search operation was suspended at 17:00 local time (13:00 Moscow time) on Tuesday.

On Wednesday, two specialists with special devices will fly from the Russian central emergency task force Tsentrospas in Kyzyl. Tuva’s leader Sholban Kara-ool stated that the republican government will deliver this equipment by cars from the Kyzyl to the remote Mongun-Taiga district, which is situated 530 kilometres away from Kyzyl.