Human Remains Found in Karmadon Gorge

Human remains have been found in North Ossetia's Karmadon gorge, which saw the disastrous avalanche on October 20th, Russia's Emergency Situations Ministry told RIA Novosti on Thursday.

It is currently impossible to identify the victims by the found body fragments, the Ministry's spokesman said. The remains will be sent for examination. "The body fragments are so small that they do not allow establishing the number of victims," the Emergency Situations Ministry stressed.

The rescue team, which has been working in the Karmadon gorge after the avalanche, has advanced by more than 130 meters towards the tunnel's entrance. The works to clear the traffic area of the Fiagdon-Karmadon and Suargom-Gornaya Saniba highways are still continuing. A total of 3,950 meters of the Gizel-Karmadon highway has already been cleared. The operative rescue teams continue examining the area near the tunnels, blocked by the avalanche.

15 out of the 16 found bodies have been identified, 116 people are considered missing, including 24 members from the film crew of Sergei Bodrov junior. 103 people have been evacuated from the disaster area.

The total of 270 workers, including 65 from the Russian Emergency Situations Ministry, two searching dogs, 17 equipment items and one helicopter are currently involved in the search and rescue works.