Law enforcement authorities in Kabarda–Balkaria have filed charges against the director and the chief engineer of the company MKD Elbrus over the accident on the single-seat cable car on Mount Elbrus. Three people were killed as a result of the accident.
The Russian Investigative Committee for Kabarda–Balkaria reported the new charges on Monday. According to the agency, the company’s executives are suspected of violating safety regulations. A criminal case has been opened on charges of providing services that do not meet safety requirements, resulting in the death of two or more people.
Earlier, the courts ordered the accused to be held in custody for two months. At the same time, seven properties belonging to the accused were placed under restrictions of sale. The official statement published on Monday noted that investigators are continuing to collect evidence, that technical examinations have been commissioned, and that documentation related to the maintenance of the equipment was being checked.
If found guilty by the court, the accused could face up to ten years in prison.
While the Investigative Committee has not disclosed the names of those detained, open sources have identified the director of MKD Elbrus as Akhmat Zalikhanov.
As reported by the Emergency Situations Ministry, the cable car was scheduled for maintenance between 2–24 September in preparation for the winter season.
The incident occurred on the afternoon of 12 September near the sixth support tower of the line. According to preliminary information, the cable came off a roller, after which several passenger chairs detached and fell onto rocks. At the time of the accident, more than 40 people were on the line, mostly tourists from Belarus and the Russian regions of Tatarstan and Bashkortostan.
While the majority of the passengers were evacuated, three people were killed and 11 others sustained injuries of varying severity. Six ambulance crews were dispatched to assist the injured.
According to local media, two of the deceased were workers, testing the cable car, while the third was a mountaineer. TASS wrote that the dead included a married couple from Tyrnyauz, Kabarda-Balkaria — a local man born in 1960 and his wife from Daghestan born in 1990 — and a Moscow resident born in 1967.
The victims were buried in Kabarda-Balkaria. Local authorities stated that the families of the deceased would receive assistance. Those injured continue to receive treatment in the republic’s medical institutions.
Following the accident, the operation of the cable car was suspended.
Elizaveta Chukharova
