A wall of snow, ice and rock broke loose on Mount Mizhirgi on Sunday afternoon and slammed into a camp where dozens of climbers were training in Russia’s North Caucasus.
Eleven of them are dead. Six are still missing. Six were injured, and ten walked out on their own.
The avalanche hit around 5 p.m. local time on Sunday, September 6, on the slopes of Mount Mizhirgi, a peak of roughly 5,000 to 5,025 meters in the Bezengi Gorge, in the Kabardino-Balkaria Republic. By Monday morning, rescue teams were still working through the wreckage, and the toll was still climbing as bodies were recovered.
What triggered it was simple and fast. Hurricane-force winds tore across the upper slopes, setting off a rockfall. That rockfall brought down the snow and ice above it, and the combined slide swept down the mountain onto the camp below.
This was not a group of tourists caught off guard on a leisure trip. The 33 alpinists on the mountain were mostly security and law-enforcement personnel, on a planned training exercise, practicing climbing techniques and safety systems at altitude. The slide struck their tent camp and training ground directly. No names have been released, and none should be assumed — officials have not identified any of the dead or missing.
In the immediate aftermath, survivors did what rescuers hadn’t yet arrived to do. They gave each other first aid on the mountain. Some went looking for their missing teammates themselves, and found two bodies before search teams reached the site. A helicopter pilot, Alexander Davydov, captured footage of the slide as it came down, and that video has since spread widely.
Around 56 rescuers were deployed, including specialists from the Elbrus high-altitude search-and-rescue unit. The terrain worked against them. High altitude, rough ground, and the continued risk of another avalanche slowed the search. Mi-8 helicopters were held back or limited by weather, brought in only when conditions allowed. Kazbek Kokov, the head of Kabardino-Balkaria, ordered that medical care for the injured be placed under his personal oversight and said searches would continue in the upper Bezengi Valley.
Russia’s Investigative Committee has opened a criminal case under Article 293 of the criminal code, which covers negligence. The case is being handled by a military investigative department, a detail that follows from the security-force status of those involved. Investigators are looking at the cause of death, the conditions on the mountain, and whether safety protocols were followed before the slide hit.
Six people are still missing. Search teams remain in the Bezengi Valley, working against the same terrain and weather that have slowed every part of this response. Families are waiting for word. Officials say the casualty count could still change as the search continues, and that this remains an active, developing situation.
This is a developing story. Figures on the dead, missing, and injured come from Russian emergency services (MChS), the Investigative Committee, regional officials, and Reuters, TASS, and other outlets as of Monday, September 7, 2026, and may change as the search continues.
