An avalanche has hit a ski resort in the Russian region of Karachay-Cherkessia on Mount Mussa-Achitara in Dombai, the emergency services stated on Monday, adding that up to 12 people may be trapped under the snow.
According to the local authorities, the disaster could have been triggered by an artificial seismic impact in another place, where an avalanche occurred in accordance with a plan, without causing any damage or harm to people.
Первые кадры из КЧР, где лавина сошла на курорте в посёлке Домбай. Люди пытаются найти выживших. pic.twitter.com/0xUJEoDwKe
— Iurie Iurie (@IuriiIurie) January 18, 2021
На горе Мусса-Ачитара в Домбае, где сошла лавина, организовывают тишину, чтобы найти людей под снегом. В экстренных службах сообщили, что спуск лавины был принудительным, но что-то пошло не так. К поискам пропавших подключилась спецтехника pic.twitter.com/MBXUWdq4sd
— NEWS.ru (@nws_ru) January 18, 2021
"Today we performed an impact, 'fired' at an avalanche centre, causing an avalanche that did no harm to anyone. But the seismic wave, most likely, triggered an avalanche coming down from another source, and it went to the lower station of the drag lift", emergency service official Khizir Chochaev said.
He noted that, according to preliminary data, the avalanche was of medium size - around several tens of thousands of cubic metres of snow.
