7700 people blocked by mudflow in Elbrus Region

A mudflow which has occurred this night has cordoned off five villages, dozens of hotels and tourist centres of the Elbrus Region and cut them off the outside world. The number of cordoned off tourists reaches 1500. This was told to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent by a source from the Elbrus Region close to the situation.

The road from Prokhladny to Azau is destroyed within the section of three kilometres: from the village of Elbrus to the village of Neitrino and higher. Four sections of the road are completely destroyed, and in three other places it was damaged by water. Three pedestrian bridges were washed away.

The "Caucasian Knot" correspondent has been told by a resident of the Terskol village that as a result of the damage to the gas pipeline, explosions occurred in several places.

"There was such a smell of gas that it penetrated even into closed windows," the villager has reported.

The search for three disappeared local residents has been going on for several hours already. The head of the Elbrus village has not yet been found. According to eyewitnesses, his car fell into the river when the road collapsed and then it was taken away by the flow.

According to a source from the emergency services, the works are underway to restore the road on the place of the disaster. The repair works involve more than 256 people and 34 units of vehicles.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.