CHERKESSK, January 19. /TASS/. Search and rescue operations at the site of an avalanche that cascaded down Mount Mussa-Achitara in the Dombay settlement of the Karachay-Cherkess Republic, in the North Caucasus, have been completed, the press service of the republic’s Emergencies Agency told TASS.
"Rescue units completed operations on the slope of Mount Mussa-Achitara where an avalanche came down earlier. On January 18, during the search and rescue works the body of a man was recovered, no other injuries or casualties were detected. The rescuers searched the entire area of the avalanche," the agency’s representative said.
As the press service specified, as of 16:00 Moscow time on Tuesday, 60,000 square meters of the snow mass were explored. "In all, 79 people and two units of equipment were involved in the clean-up operation after the emergency situation," the main directorate of the Emergencies Ministry added.
On January 18, an avalanche hit a piste at the height of 2,400 meters in the settlement of Dombay on Mount Mussa-Achitara. Two trailers where the ski gear is rented were completely destroyed, and a cafe was damaged. The president of the Dombay Alpine Skiing and Snowboard Federation, Khadzhi-Murat Marshankulov, was killed in the avalanche. The Investigative Directorate of Russia’s Investigative Committee in the Karachay-Cherkess Republic opened a criminal case under Article 293, part 2, of Russia’s Criminal Code (grievous bodily harm or death by negligence).