The 2009 Zigana avalanche was an

avalanche An avalanche is a rapid flow of snow down a Grade (slope), slope, such as a hill or mountain. Avalanches can be triggered spontaneously, by factors such as increased precipitation or snowpack weakening, or by external means such as humans, othe ...

that occurred on 25 January at around 11:15 local time (09:15

UTC Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) is the primary time standard globally used to regulate clocks and time. It establishes a reference for the current time, forming the basis for civil time and time zones. UTC facilitates international communica ...

) on

Mount Zigana Mount is often used as part of the name of specific mountains, e.g. Mount Everest. Mount or Mounts may also refer to: Places * Mount, Cornwall, a village in Warleggan parish, England * Mount, Perranzabuloe, a hamlet in Perranzabuloe parish, C ...

Gümüşhane Province Gümüşhane Province ( Pontic Greek, Romeika: Αργυρούπολη) is a Provinces of Turkey, province in northern Turkey, bordering Bayburt Province, Bayburt to the east, Trabzon Province, Trabzon to the north, Giresun Province, Giresun and E ...

in north-eastern

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

. It struck a group of 17 hikers at a height of near the site of a small ski resort. The snow mass dragged the hikers about into a valley. Ten people were killed, one person was rescued with injuries and another one died in hospital while five others survived without injuries. Teams from civilian defense and other public administrations rushed to the scene for the rescue of the victims from a sports club in

Trabzon Trabzon, historically known as Trebizond, is a city on the Black Sea coast of northeastern Turkey and the capital of Trabzon Province. The city was founded in 756 BC as "Trapezous" by colonists from Miletus. It was added into the Achaemenid E ...

after local gendarmerie was notified of the incident. Also a team of AKUT, a voluntary disaster search and rescue organization, travelled from Trabzon to the location, to assess the situation and to offer any help and assistance necessary.

Nasuh Mahruki Ali Nasuh Mahruki (born 21 May 1968) is a professional mountaineer, writer, photographer and documentary film producer. He climbed to the summit of Mount Everest and was the first ever Turkish person to climb the Seven Summits. Early life He wa ...

, the first Turkish

Mount Everest Mount Everest (), known locally as Sagarmatha in Nepal and Qomolangma in Tibet, is Earth's highest mountain above sea level. It lies in the Mahalangur Himal sub-range of the Himalayas and marks part of the China–Nepal border at it ...

summiter and the head of AKUT, said that "the accident was a walking group accident, not a mountain climbing accident. It is apparent that they hit the road without an avalanche test. It is very difficult for 16 to 17 people to remain under an avalanche."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zigana avalanche Zing 2009 natural disasters History of Gümüşhane Province January 2009 in Turkey Avalanches in Asia Natural disasters in Turkey 2009 disasters in Turkey

See also

References