St.Petersburg teenagers on hike in disaster area

A group of teenagers from St.Petersburg who went on a hike to the Novorossiisk suburbs, Southern Russia, has been entrapped in a disaster-stricken area. The children's club "Rassvet" has reported that 20 kids aged 13 to 17 and eight adults, including a doctor and chief of the group, left St.Petersburg for Novorossiisk on July 28.

The group was to set up a tent camp in Sukhaya Shchel outside Novorossiisk and to go from there on hikes, in particular, to a frontier guard post located close-by and to Mount Sakharnaya Golova.

The group, which was not supposed to maintain communication with St.Petersburg during its absence, was expected back on August 24.

The parents of the teenagers have so far failed to contact Novorossiisk along the hot line and to find out any information about the group.

The ministry for emergency situations reports that all children are being evacuated from the camps and resorts located in the disaster-stricken zone. There were about 500 children, in all. The natural calamity has already affected 20 people, including one little girl aged 20 months.