Georgian Interior Minister Vakhtang Gomelauri made his first appearance in the disaster zone in the mountain resort of Shovi, where a huge landslide occurred on 3 August. 24 bodies of the dead have been found and identified by this day, nine more missing people are still being searched for, Azernews reports.

The minister explained that he had been in Turkiye all these days with his seriously ill father, and then answered questions from journalists.

He confirmed the previously circulated information: at this point, rescuers have already checked 60 percent of the area in search of the dead. The search area has been significantly expanded, and 18 rescue teams have been moved to a distance of 54 kilometers from Shovi.

The Interior Minister also answered question about rescue helicopters not flying at night. Concerning whether the helicopters' have been maintained with special night vision equipment the minister said: "We have equipment for night flights, we have acquired it and we can fly, I have said this very many times. But flying at night is a very big risk. If there is no immediate threat to people's lives at that very moment - then pilots should not take risks, it is unacceptable," the minister said.

"People [waiting for evacuation] on the mountainside are safe. Everyone who is well versed in aviation understands that even when night flying aids are available, it is a very big risk to fly in that area - the valley and the mountains. The helicopter could have crashed," is how the minister explained the suspension of the rescue operation on the first night of the Shovi disaster.

A rescue helicopter did not arrive at the site of the landslide until three hours later, which continues to draw harsh criticism from the public. But the minister said it could not have happened otherwise:

"A helicopter is not a bicycle or a car, where you can get on and go straight away. A helicopter needs training to take off. Besides, the weather was very bad, we watched the clouds for almost two hours before flying into the valley. But the helicopter did arrive, and 70 people were taken from the resulting island to safety.

Police officers were also taken there, they stayed overnight with the people and delivered food and water. It was a safe place when night fell. So we decided not to risk [the pilots' lives] anymore and the rest of the people were taken out the next day."

Minister Gomelauri also provided an answer for the question of having a proper landslide warning system.

"Whatever 'devices we install, natural disasters can still happen within seconds. We are a nation that lives in the Caucasus Mountains. Then we should evict thousands of families right now, starting from Lagodekhi, Kvareli, and on to Kazbegi. A natural disaster can happen anywhere, unfortunately, we cannot avoid it.

Look at what happened in Hawaii. 100 people burned, hundreds missing. And this is happening in America, which is a much stronger country than we are. They also have cooler helicopters than us, the air force, but it happened. It's nature, what can you do, it's terrible, it's a big disaster," he said.

Reports circulating that water was stagnating in the river valley shortly before the disaster were not confirmed.

According to the report, climatic changes contributed to the landslide processes. Rising air temperatures led to intensive melting of glaciers and excessive precipitation.

The National Environment Agency states that there is no danger in the region at this stage.