Avalanche in Bezengi Gorge: 17 dead

What happened? On September 6, 2026, at about 5:00 p.m., a snow-ice mass descended from the slope of the five-thousander Mizhyrgi in the Bezengi Gorge (Cheretsky District of Kabardino-Balkaria). It covered a group of 33 climbers who were on a training climb. Ten people descended on their own, six were hospitalized with injuries. Mizhyrgi is not on the Bezengi wall itself, but on the neighboring side ridge of the same cirque, near Dykhtau. The search continued until September 13: rescuers found the bodies of all 17 dead and called off the operation.