Government Officials’ Remarks on Shovi Tragedy Cause Public Outcry

Faced with criticism about handling the August 3 deadly mudslide in Shovi, political officials have questioned the survivors’ accounts of the tragic events. High-ranking government officials’ recent remarks raised concerns and outrage among Georgian public. Specifically, Irakli Kobakhidze, the chairman of the “Georgian Dream” party, dismissed the information about a rescued child three-hour struggle with the mudslide as “an empty lie”.

Kobakhidze said: “There has been speculation, false information spread about the fact that, for example, one of the children apparently fought against the mudslide for three hours. This is simply an unbelievable lie. It is simply impossible that events could have unfolded in this way. I repeat that the disaster was instantaneous and, unfortunately, the people caught in the mudslide simply had no chance of survival. To talk about someone who fought against the disaster for three hours is just an empty lie…”.

The chairman of Georgian Dream also questioned the photo disseminated by the survivor Davit Jeladze, which shows how far he and his niece crossed the mudslide from the opposite side of the Sunset Shovi Hotel to the hotel. Kobakhidze remarked: “I can’t tell you anything about this photograph. Why it was necessary to cross from one bank to the other, I do not know, because it was certainly safer to stay on this bank. Many people stayed there. We were in that area the other day, and it was almost impossible to move.” He said the account of what had happened to the survivor has to be “investigated”: “So all this should be checked. We need to investigate the details of the photo. I don’t know why or how you can just move from one bank to the other”.

Regarding the use of helicopters equipped with night vision in the disaster zone, Irakli Kobakhidze said there was no need for them. According to him, after the arrival of the helicopters before nightfall, the survivors were identified, and drones equipped with night vision continued this operation after dark. He noted that the mudslide masses fell immediately, and only those people who were on the edges [of the valley], where the mud mass did not exceed one meter, could be rescued. He said it was “impossible” to rescue the people who fell under the landslide.

This remark by the Chairman of Georgian Dream echoed yesterday’s statement by the Minister of Internal Affairs, Vakhtang Gomelauri, which caused a public outcry. Gomelauri commenting for the first time on the tragic event, said: “We have equipment for night flights, we have bought them, we can fly them, although there is a very big risk, and if human life is not in real and imminent danger, this is not feasible [to fly them].”

Irakli Kobakhidze’s skepticism was shared by the chairman of the parliamentary Human Rights Committee, Mikheil Sarjveladze. He states: “If a person survived on the other side, why did he have to cross this mass of mud? I just don’t know, maybe there is a specific reason”.

At the same time, in his statement of August 8, Sarjveladze also maintained that it was impossible to save people even with additional resources: “Those who survived, survived. Those who were not covered by mud all survived. If you were to start the search in 15 minutes or an hour, given all that mass, what would be the impact in terms of prospects? Whoever was at that moment in a place that was not covered by that mud, they survived. I don’t think the immediate response there would have affected the fate of those people”.

Mamuka Mdinaradze, leader of the Georgian Dream faction, attempted to clarify and explain Irakli Kobakhidze’s remarks in a statement published on social media. According to him: “His [Kobakhidze’s] reaction was appropriate, although Irakli Kobakhidze said that this needed to be checked and clarified and that he could not say anything about this photo and the trajectory indicated. The simplest logic is to assume, and this is confirmed by verifying the story, that Davit Jeladze, together with his niece, was able to cross to the other side of the landslide, not from the side of “Sunset Shovi,” but relatively lower, in a place where the height of the mud would allow even a minimum chance of this, which would also be very hard and unbelievable. Still, it is a fact, and he himself says that he managed to do it and came back.”

Survivors reactions

Jeladze said in an interview with Formula TV: “Today’s statement shocked me, destroyed me. I feel very insulted. Every day we used to wake up hoping that someone would call us, at least write an encouraging message, would ask me how I did it. I woke up every day waiting for that day. The statement [Irakli Kobakhidze] made today shocked me, completely destroyed me. It turns out that everything I said and whatever happened to me is apparently a lie… I don’t know how I’m talking even now, I don’t know. I’m very nervous and concerned. I’ve never been so insulted…I don’t understand what’s the point of accusing me; maybe he doesn’t want the horrors that happened in Shovi to be made public”.

Mariam Berianidze, who was caught in the landslide during the Shovi disaster, writes: “11 days have passed since August 3; perhaps any of you should have asked us how we were. You think that’s the rock the rock bottom, and you turn out to be wrong every time… Mr. Irakli, had you been interested in the condition of the survivors and what happened during the 11 days, you might have learned that the wave that hit us was three meters high, not 20 centimeters. We called for help for 3 hours, we were stuck in the mud up to 4 meters from the landslide, and we were desperate for help; maybe you should check the records of our calls to the emergency service if you don’t believe us. Or maybe you can take a look at the photos taken from the epicenter of the disaster. I also have a video and will send it to you. Maybe you can show me where the bank is where we got stuck, and I will show you where 16 people were stuck in the central part of the landslide! This briefing is a disgrace! Your indifference is a disgrace, this country is a disgrace”.

Disaster survivor Gio Adamia also responded to Kobakhidze’s statement. He notes: “I saw with my own eyes Taso [a survived child] crawling in the landslide for more than three hours, she couldn’t walk, she lay down, she tried everything. We were standing on the bridge near the calcium water, and in half a minute, the landslide covered everything. When we moved to a slightly higher spot, the landslide caught up with us again and dragged us for over 20 meters. It carried David and Masho even further. There were landslides all around us. We stood in the frozen mud for three hours, waiting for the helicopter. Irakli Kobakhidze, you have not experienced what it is like to have a child on your back, to be knee-deep in a landslide, to be cut by sharp stones with every step, to have no strength to walk and to be afraid of a new wave every second. Nor have you experienced holding a child in your arms, looking at a two-meter-high landslide wave in front of you, seeing it coming towards you and not being able to run away. Fighting for life is not a speculation!”.

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