Ketrisi Incident

The Ketrisi Incident (Samot:კეტრისის გაუჩინარების საქმე, lit 'Ketrisi Disappearance Case') was an event in which a Helinikan tourist group disappeared and subsequently perished in the central Tovlis Mountains, in dubious circumstances. The tour group was finishing a 7-day skiing trip in Akhalkalaki, and was en-route to Mskheti and Yuksekent. Sometime during the trip, the tour bus deviated from its intended route by several kilometers. Even more perplexingly, the group apparenly abandoned the tour bus in sub-zero temperatures, split into several smaller groups, and traveled in opposing directions. Of the 18 people originally in the tour group, only 4 survived.

Due to the intensity of the snowstorm on the day of the incident, in addition to the fact that said snowstorm caused several blackouts in the area, the group was not reported missing until late afternoon on 14th January, by which point the group have been dispersed over a large area. In addition, the search and rescue effort was delayed due to avalanches caused by the snowstorm, with 1 rescue worker perishing from an avalanche. At approximately 10 pm on 14th of Jan, 4 survivors were spotted by a passing automobile and was rescued via helicopter, 1 later died in hospital. A large scale search was not properly conducted until the 20th, when weather has largely calmed. The tour bus was discovered, abandoned, off the side of a newly constructed detour road to the south of HWY 28, the intended route of the tour group. On the 21st, the first body was discovered to the west of the bus, followed shortly by 4 more. Within a week, all but 2 of the missing tour group members were discovered, within an area of roughly 200km^2. 2 months after the incident, a pelvic bone belonging to [Name] was found on a riverbank north of Tishevli. To date, the body of [Name] has not been located.

Forensics have determined that the majority of the group died of hypothermia, which added to the mystery as the group's snow gear was largely left on the bus. Most bodies were discovered wearing everyday clothes that could not stand the harsh winter conditions in the mountains. The 4 survivors were wearing snow gear when rescued, noting a lack of uniformity amongst the group.