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| Abkhazia PM dies in presidential cortege car accident on return from official Syria visit | |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Prime Minister of Abkhazia Gennady Gagulia has died after his cortege got in a car accident en route from Sochi’s airport to his home republic, local authorities confirmed. | Prime Minister of Abkhazia Gennady Gagulia has died after his cortege got in a car accident en route from Sochi’s airport to his home republic, local authorities confirmed. |
| “Yes, we can confirm the information [of Gagulia's death],” the government spokeswoman Diana Zantaria told Sputnik. According to preliminary information, the head of the government was still alive on his way to the hospital. No one else was injured in the accident, Zantaria noted. | “Yes, we can confirm the information [of Gagulia's death],” the government spokeswoman Diana Zantaria told Sputnik. According to preliminary information, the head of the government was still alive on his way to the hospital. No one else was injured in the accident, Zantaria noted. |
| The premier’s cortege got into an accident around 10pm local time just after passing the police post on the outskirts of Mussera. Gagulia was making his way back to Abkhazia from the Russian city of Sochi where he landed after making an official visit to Syria. | |
| The President of Abkhazia, Raul Khajimba, who was also travelling with the cortege, suffered no injuries. According to witnesses the tragedy happened after an oncoming passenger car apparently lost control and crashed into one of the delegation’s vehicles. Following the fateful collision, Gagulia’s bodyguard and the driver were also taken to a hospital, where they remain in “satisfactory” condition, a spokesperson for the Interior Ministry said. | |
| “The delegation of the Republic of Abkhazia was returning from the official visit to Syria,” Khajimba told Interfax. “It was a car accident, not a terror act,” he stressed, confirming the tragic death of his colleague. | |
| The 70-year-old Prime Minister of Abkhazia served as the Chairman of the Council of Ministers twice (1995 – 1997, 2002 – 2003) when the small coastal republic was still considered a part of Georgia, prior to the partial recognition of its independence following Georgia’s August 2008 attack on South Ossetia. Gagulia assumed his current role as the head of government on April 25, 2018. | |
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