Travellers trapped in Caucasus pass freed

Russian officials say more than one-hundred-and-fifty people stranded by an avalanche in a mountain pass on the border with Georgia have been rescued.

The emergencies minister for North Ossetia, in the Caucasus border region, said all those trapped in a long tunnel the Roksit tunnel had been freed and emergency workers were now trying to clear snow and remove the danger of further avalanches.

Hundreds of other travellers were led out of the blocked pass or rescued by helicopter earlier in the week, but rescue efforts have been hampered by thick fog.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service