TSKHINVAL, December 21. /TASS/. One Russian serviceman was found dead and another died on the way to the hospital after they were hit by an avalanche in South Ossetia, the nation’s government agencies said.

A total of five servicemen were hit by the avalanche, and one is still missing. Two others have been retrieved and hospitalized with medium-severity frostbites of the extremities, an Ossetian Health Ministry representative said.

The avalanche trapped a total of five servicemen who stood watch at a tunnel of the Transcaucasian Highway.