2018-04-05
According to preliminary information, a rock burst has occurred in Mindeli Shaft in Tkibuli.
According to currently available information, the accident has claimed six lives, and three miners have been injured. Two of the injured are undergoing treatment in the Kutaisi Center for Interventional Medicine and one at the Tkibuli Clinic.
All relevant agencies are on full alert, coordinating their work in relation to the accident.
On the instructions of the Prime Minister of Georgia, First Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development Dimitri Kumsishvili, the Head of the Emergency Management Agency, the Head of the Labor Department at the Ministry of Health, and representatives of relevant agencies have departed for the accident site. The senior local officials and the district's majoritarian MP are in the shaft. Rescuers for the Emergency Management Agency, together with the rescuers from Mindeli Shaft, are working on the site to remove the bodies on the surface. The Imereti Regional Rescue Groups are also on the ground, and a group of 14 mountain rescuers has departed from the Tbilisi Rescue Base for Tkibuli.
Groups from the Agency for Technical and Construction Supervision at the Ministry of Economy, the Ministry of Health, the Interior Ministry, the Imereti Governor's Office, and local self-government are also working on the ground.
The Prime Minister is kept constantly updated on the condition of the injured and the state of affairs in Tkibuli.
The Ministry of Interior has launched an investigation into the accident (Article 240 of the Criminal Code of Georgia).