The North Caucasus is famous for its beautiful natural landscapes, majestic mountains, turquoise rivers, clean air. One of these places was the Karmadon Gorge in North Ossetia.
Dangerous mountains
Nature often poses a deadly threat. The North Ossetian gorges have always been famous for their beauty, they have been and remain favorite vacation spots for both the local population and visiting tourists. There are numerous recreation centers, mountaineering and almost ideal conditions for outdoor enthusiasts. In addition, they are often used for filming movies on location. The diversity and primordial nature of nature allows you to capture excellent plans and perspectives, which is so important for the film. This is exactly what the Karmadon Gorge was like. Even 12 years ago, it attracted to itself with its main attraction - the Kolka glacier. Located at the very top of the gorge, on clear days it allowed to see a rainbow glow over the entire territory surrounding it. It was this gorge that the famous Russian actor and director Sergei Bodrov Jr. chose for his filming.
On the eve of the tragedy
Old-timers have always feared this glacial mass hanging over the entire gorge, but glaciologists (people who monitor glaciers) gave quite optimistic forecasts. In addition, the inhabitants of the village of Upper Karmadon did not recall any disturbing phenomena during its long history. Nothing foreshadowed the drama that unfolded here on a sunny, warm day on September 20, 2002. The tragedy in Karmadonskoye was a complete surprise for all its participants: for residents, the film crew of Sergei Bodrov, emergency services. People calmly went about their business, and the Bodrov team finished shooting, which was supposed to start in the morning, but the circumstances led to the fact that they were postponed to the afternoon. It gets dark early in the mountains, and therefore, by seven o'clock in the evening, people began to gather, and in the meantime, events took place in the upper reaches of the gorge that radically changed the entire subsequent course of events.
Tragedy in the Karmadon Gorge on September 20, 2002
About eight in the evening, a large mass of overhanging ice collapsed on the surface of the Kolka glacier. The blow was of enormous force, some experts even compared its energy with the detonation of a small atomic charge. It caused the destruction of the upper body of the glacier, numerous cracks caused the Kolka fragment to fall off. Rushing down, this mass began to drag a stone-mud mudflow into its orbit, the settlement of Upper Karmadon was the first to be hit by the elements, it was completely swept away by mudflows. Geographically, any gorge has a rather narrow passage, which is what did not allow dissipating the destructive power of the ice-mud mass. The stream rushed at a speed of over two hundred kilometers, and the maximum height of the shaft was about 250 meters. This whole avalanche covered the Karmadon Gorge for more than twelve kilometers, turning the once flourishing region into a lifeless desert.
The dramatic fate of Sergei Bodrov's group
Sergey Bodrov's film crew was loading onto transport, but they didn't have time to leave the gorge. Everything happened almost instantly. According to eyewitnesses, the entire descent of the glacier took no more than 20 minutes, which further complicated the task of escaping. In the first hours after the tragedy, many people were overcome by fear and despondency. Such were the devastating consequences of the event that changed the Karmadon Gorge. North Ossetia, without exception, responded to this disaster. Immediately after the glacier melted in Vladikavkaz, an operational headquarters was formed to search for people and provide assistance to the victims. Significant forces of the Ministry of Emergency Situations and other emergency structures were attracted to the scene. According to preliminary data, 19 people were killed. The rescue work that began revealed the full scale of the tragedy, everything was practically ground to dust, thousands of cubic meters of mudflow flooded the entire flat part of the gorge, and there was no chance to survive here.
Consequences of glacial collapse
On September 21, at 14.00, according to the operational headquarters, more than 130 were dead and missingpeople, including the film group of Sergei Bodrov. However, people had little hope that the famous actor and his team could take refuge in the car tunnel, which was located at the bottom of the gorge, and even supposedly there were witnesses who noticed how a convoy of cars was heading towards this shelter. All residents of Upper Karmadon were included in the list of missing people, because not a single body could be found. Active rescue work made it possible to get closer to the entrance to the tunnel, but it was blocked by a multi-meter block of ice and mud. It became clear that it would not be possible to get inside quickly. So, the chances of finding survivors quickly melted away. Nevertheless, volunteers and everyone willing to help speed up the process joined the operation. The descent of the glacier in the Karmadon Gorge caused an unprecedented unity of all the inhabitants of a small Caucasian republic. But all efforts were in vain, for the first month of rescue work, no one was found.
Death of Hope
The relatives and friends of Sergei Bodrov and his companions insisted on continuing the search, but the onset of cold weather no longer seemed possible. Many understood that, most likely, they were not alive. But according to the well-known expression “Hope dies last,” they continued to believe, contrary to common sense, in the possibility of saving the group. However, the more time passed, the more elusive all hopes became. In the end, even the most ardent enthusiasts stopped looking. It was decided with the beginning of spring to start a new search to find the remains of all the filmmakers. Many people remember the television footage from the scene of the tragedy in the spring of 2003, how they counted the meters to the entrance to the tunnel, what operations they came up with to speed up the process, 19 attempts to drill the body of the tunnel were unsuccessful, and only the twentieth attempt allowed them to get inside. A huge disappointment awaited all those present: no traces of people were found inside. Nevertheless, the study of the tunnel continued for almost a year, but did not give positive results. By decision of the commission in May 2004, all searches were stopped. All the missing people began to be listed as dead in the Karmadon Gorge.
