President of the Tuva republic Šolban Kara-ool signed an order on Tuesday to give 100,000 rubles ($3,300) in compensation to the families of six teenagers still missing in an avalanche, a news report said.
According to Kara-ool, the compensation is meant to make up for the time that the parents are taking off of work to search for their children, Interfax reported.
The search-and-rescue operation to find the six teenagers — missing since Sunday morning — is still under way.
Seven teenagers were skiing down the Ak-Bashtyg Mountain when they were caught in an avalanche that buried them under 4 to 6 meters of snow. One managed to escape and alerted rescue workers shortly after.
Approximately 50 people with specialized mountain skills are working in the avalanche area, with additional teams of volunteers and vehicles providing support in an area divided into four districts.
The use of electronic signals from mobile phones has assisted the rescue effort, which has nevertheless been hampered by increasing snow, the threat of further avalanches and weather prohibiting the use of a helicopter.
The temperature is expected to drop on Wednesday to between -6 and -11 degrees Celsius.
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