At least 11 climbers were killed and six others remained missing Monday after a massive avalanche swept through Russia’s Caucasus Mountains, authorities said, in a disaster captured in dramatic videos that spread across social media.
Footage from the Kabardino-Balkaria region shows an enormous mass of snow and ice racing down the mountainside beneath clear skies. Investigators believe the avalanche may have been triggered by the collapse of a hanging glacier, though the cause has not been definitively established.
Avalanche buries at least 11 climbers in Russia
The avalanche struck the Bezengi Gorge at around 5 p.m. local time Sunday while a group of 33 climbers was in the area.
Eleven were confirmed dead and six were still unaccounted for, while the remaining members of the group managed to descend safely, according to Russian authorities.
A search involving 56 rescue personnel continued Monday, supported by an Mi-8 helicopter.
‘You only see things like this in movies’
One video posted online was filmed by tourists watching the avalanche from a distance.
“Damn! You only see things like this in movies,” one man can be heard saying as the avalanche surges down the slope.
Another asks whether they should leave.
“Yes, let’s go, let’s go,” the first man replies, before adding: “But how can you just walk away from a sight like this?”
The tourists apparently did not know at the time that climbers had been buried by the avalanche.
Bezengi Gorge stretches for about 14 kilometers, or nearly 9 miles, near Russia’s border with Georgia and is surrounded by some of the highest peaks in the central Caucasus, rising from roughly 4,000 to 5,200 meters.
The area is also home to the vast Bezengi Glacier and attracts climbers drawn to its steep, rugged terrain.
A region known for dangerous conditions
The Caucasus Mountains attract thousands of mountaineers, skiers and snowboarders each year but are notorious for rapidly changing weather and hazardous alpine conditions.
The mountains in Kabardino-Balkaria where the avalanche occurred. ‘How can you walk away from a sight like this?’
(Photo: Shutterstock)
Nearby Mount Elbrus, the highest mountain in Europe, records an estimated 15 to 30 deaths each year, many involving climbers who are unprepared for its extreme conditions.
Earlier this year, another enormous avalanche caused alarm in the same Russian region after sweeping through a ski area on the slopes of Elbrus. That incident ended without fatalities.
Sunday’s disaster, however, has left rescue teams racing to locate the six climbers who remain missing as authorities investigate whether collapsing glacier ice set off the deadly cascade.