In Oni municipality, the search and rescue operation continues in round the clock regime for the seventh day in the disaster area. Temur Mgebrishvili, head of Emergency Situations Management Service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs commented to the media on the current rescue measures.
"Two bodies were found today. One body was found directly in the epicenter of the disaster, in vicinity of the so-called cottages, one of them is the body of a minor, the other body was found in the river bed, approximately 2 kilometers from the epicenter of the disaster. At the moment, 21 bodies have been detected in total and 12 bodies remain missing. There are currently 9 active search locations. As for more information on the bodies, I do not want to spread incorrect information that might not be confirmed later, one body of a minor and another female body were found, however I don’t want to go into details, bodies have already been transferred to forensic facility. At the moment, if I'm not mistaken, there are four that are being identified, and this is the current situation we have so far. None of today's bodies have been identified," – noted the head of the Emergency Situations Management Service.
Temur Mgebrishvili also commented on the ongoing work in the disaster zone and stated that rescuers are actively working in the disaster zone, taking into account safety measures.
"Like yesterday, today, search and rescue operations are in progress at 9 locations. We have moved forward and have already inspected a very large area. The conditions are acting in our favor at this point. We are trying to wash this soil into the river, that we have checked already. In addition, you know that due to high temperature, there is a risk that certain types of diseases may spread. Therefore, we have taken maximum safety measures. Herewith, we are making efforts to act in accordance with protocol, which is necessary in a situation similar to this one,"- noted Temur Mghebrishvili.
The head of Emergency Situations Management Service, in response to the question posed by the journalists regarding the identification of bodies and the missing persons, noted the following - "I am not in the position of disclosing any information. In my opinion, this should be agreed directly with the family members and after their permission it can be made public, although I cannot do anything more than that at this point."
Police units, fire-rescuers of the Emergency Situations Management Service, K-9 unit experts, border police helicopters, drones and special equipment are involved in the operation held in disaster-affected zone as well as employees of the Ministry of Defense and the Department of Roads under the Ministry of Infrastructure.
