Traffic on Georgia-Russia highway completely paralysed due to snow

Traffic of all kinds of vehicles is prohibited on the highway of international importance Yerevan-Tbilisi-Vladikavkaz-Moscow.

The restrictions are caused by heavy snowfall and the threat of avalanches, Caliber.Az reports, citing the Department of Roads (DAD) of the Ministry of Infrastructure and Regional Development of Georgia.

On December 25, Stepantsminda municipality reported that traffic was still blocked, and hundreds of heavy vehicles and passenger buses from Georgia and Armenia were stuck on the Kobi-Gudauri section.

According to a source in Stepantsminda municipality, the situation on the highway is tragic: due to huge traffic jams, drivers of heavy trucks and buses cannot even turn back towards Tbilisi and Yerevan. Drivers are forced to heat their vehicles, wasting gasoline, which is already running out. There are women and children in the buses stuck due to snow.

Municipal authorities are helping people as much as they can, but material resources are scarce. The central authorities of Georgia are not yet able to send aid to the victims due to the continuing snowfall, ice and avalanche danger in this area.