Landslide in Russia (North Ossetia)

On Friday, September 20, an avalanche occurred on a mountainside in North Ossetia, a region affected earlier in June by floods. The avalanche was caused by a 150-meter-tall chunk of glacier that broke off and slid down the mountain. Moving at around 150 kilometers an hour, the avalanche slid 33 kilometers and stopped 10 kilometers from the town of Vladikavkaz. The path of destruction was nearly 300 meters to 400 meters wide. The avalanche buried the village of Karmadon and adjacent holidaying areas under a 50-kilometer layer of stones and ice. As of September 27, according to EMERCOM, 12 people had been found dead, 27 people had been rescued, and 99 people were still missing.  Preliminary reports estimate the material damage caused by the disaster to be between 15 and 17 million US dollars.

For the latest information on rescue operations and damage assessments, please visit the ReliefWeb website.