16 March 2018, 18:40

As a result thereof, 11 tourists from Russia, Ukraine and Sweden were injured in the Gudauri Ski Resort; seven of them were delivered to Tbilisi by helicopter and reanimobiles, Avtandil Talakvadze, Director of the Centre for Emergencies Coordination and Emergency Care of the Georgia's Ministry of Public Health, has reported.

"A tragedy has happened; the cableway was checked in late December, as it should have been done on the eve of the season; but it doesn't matter; the accident has happened; and now an inquiry must establish and strictly punish those guilty. I think that a very serious punishment will follow," the "Interfax" quotes Dmitry Kumsishvili, First Deputy Prime Minister of Georgia, as saying.

The inspection, held in December 2017, showed that the cableway was OK; a corresponding certificate was issued, Sandro Sheliya, Director General of the CI International Company, has confirmed.

In his opinion, presumably, the failed braking could cause the accident. "This is an assumption; the real cause will be established by investigators," Mr Sheliya has added.

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