Mount Mizhirgi avalanche death toll rises to 14, 3 climbers remain missing, Russia

The Main Directorate of MChS for Kabardino-Balkaria received the first report of the avalanche at 17:00 MSK (14:00 UTC) on September 6. The report said an avalanche had descended from Mount Mizhirgi into the Bezengi Gorge and struck a group of climbers travelling along a mountain route.

Initial information placed 15 people in the group, including two reported dead, three injured and 10 trapped beneath the avalanche. MChS subsequently identified this as a preliminary count.

By 09:00 MSK (06:00 UTC) on September 7, MChS had corrected the group total to 33. Ten climbers had descended without assistance, six injured climbers had been transported to medical facilities, 11 had died and six remained missing.

MChS said 56 personnel were being mobilized for the operation on September 7, including 27 rescuers from its Elbrus high-mountain search-and-rescue unit. Difficult terrain and continuing avalanche danger complicated access to the site.

Operations were suspended at 19:00 MSK (16:00 UTC) on September 7 after adverse weather prevented the full rescue contingent from being transferred to the mountain. Twelve MChS specialists remained at the site, while 46 personnel were held ready at the Bezengi alpine camp.

MChS said the work was also complicated by repeated collapses from a mountain cornice. These later collapses should be distinguished from the original avalanche, whose precise trigger has not been officially established.

Searches resumed on September 8, with 12 rescuers working on the slope. Another mass descended from the mountain cornice that morning without injuring rescue personnel. Teams subsequently recovered another body, raising the death toll to 12 and reducing the number of missing climbers to five.

A Mi-8 helicopter was used to survey the mountain and transport specialists to the search area. A municipal-level emergency regime was in effect in Cherek District.

By 18:00 MSK (15:00 UTC) on September 8, search-and-rescue work had again been suspended because of worsening weather. MChS said 12 bodies had been evacuated by helicopter to the Bezengi alpine camp and handed over to a law-enforcement investigative team.

Operations resumed at 06:00 MSK (03:00 UTC) on September 9. Rescuers searching the slope and the foot of Mount Mizhirgi found another body, raising the toll to 13 and leaving four climbers missing. MChS said 41 personnel were at the site at that stage of the operation.

A second body was recovered later on September 9, taking the death toll to 14 and reducing the number of missing climbers to three. MChS said the bodies recovered that day were flown to Nalchik and transferred to law-enforcement personnel.

At 15:50 MSK (12:50 UTC), MChS suspended the operation after another snow-and-ice mass descended in the Bezengi Gorge. The agency said the total response contingent at the site had increased to 63 personnel and that a Mi-8 helicopter was expected to be deployed after daylight on September 10.

The Investigative Committee of Russia opened a criminal case under Article 293 of the Russian Criminal Code concerning alleged negligence. Investigators said they were working to establish the causes and circumstances of the disaster. The opening of the case does not establish individual or institutional liability.

MChS bulletins have documented the original avalanche and several subsequent snow-and-ice collapses, but authorities had not announced a verified trigger for the September 6 avalanche as of the latest update.

References:

¹ Search-and-rescue operations in Cherek District, corrected information – MCHS – September 7, 2026

² Search-and-rescue operations in Cherek District, corrected information – MCHS – September 9, 2026

³ Death toll among climbers caught in Kabardino-Balkaria avalanche rises to 14 – Interfax – September 9, 2026