12 people found dead inside restaurant at popular ski resort
"No signs of body injuries or signs of violence were detected.”

ByJon Haworth
December 18, 2024, 3:31 AM

LONDON -- Twelve people are dead at after their bodies were found inside a restaurant at a popular ski resort in the Caucasus Mountains of Georgia, authorities said.

The Mtskheta-Mtianeti Police Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in Georgia said that the bodies were discovered in Gudauri -- a popular and well-known ski resort near the Russian border located approximately 75 miles north of the country’s capital city of Tbilisi.

“In the resting area on the second floor of the Indian restaurant located in Gudauri, the bodies of 12 people employed in the same facility were found,” Georgian officials said in a statement. “At the initial inspection, no signs of body injuries or signs of violence were detected.”

However, according to a preliminary investigation, authorities discovered that a power generator had been placed in a closed space within an indoor area of the resort near some bedrooms. An investigation under Article 116 of the Criminal Code of Georgia has been launched, suggesting that the deaths were due to negligent manslaughter.


Gudauri ski resort in Georgia is seen in this May 17, 2019 file photo.
Reinhard Kaufhold/Picture-Alliance/DPA/AP, FILE

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