A cable car collapse on Elbrus has led to a Rostekhnadzor official being investigated.

The head of the Rostekhnadzor department for Kabardino-Balkaria failed to oversee the rectification of violations in the operation of the Elbrus cable car, where three people died in September 2025.

As reported by the "Caucasian Knot", on September 12, 2025, as a result of a cable car cable break on Mount Elbrus, three people were killed and another 11 people were injured. The director and chief engineer of the company servicing the cable car were detained and arrested in connection with the deaths; they were charged under the article on the provision of dangerous services (Part 3 of Article 238 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, which carries a sentence of up to 10 years in prison). The bank accounts of Elbrus MKD LLC were frozen, and the case was transferred to court at the end of January.

Investigators in Kabardino-Balkaria have opened a negligence case against the head of the department of state construction supervision and supervision of lifting mechanisms of the republic's Rostekhnadzor. The official faces up to seven years in prison or up to five years of forced labor (Part 3 of Article 293 of the Russian Criminal Code provides for liability for negligence resulting in the death of two or more people).

As the investigation established, an unscheduled on-site inspection was conducted at the Elbrus MKD facility in October 2024. It revealed numerous violations of industrial safety laws during the operation of the chairlift from Mir Station to Gara-Bashi Station in the Elbrus District.

The chairlift's management was ordered to correct the violations by December 2024. Furthermore, the Rostekhnadzor official responsible for overseeing the rectification of the identified violations was required to take steps to suspend the chairlift's operation by filing a lawsuit. The supervisory agency employee failed to ensure timely compliance with the order, resulting in an accident in September 2025, the republic's Investigative Committee's official Telegram channel reported today.

The agency noted that the investigation is ongoing, but did not specify whether a suspect has been detained. The "Caucasian Knot" has not yet received any comments from the Kabardino-Balkarian Federal Service for Environmental, Technological and Nuclear Supervision regarding the investigative actions.

The "Caucasian Knot" also reported that on October 9, the Elbrus District Court banned for 60 days the operation of the cable car where the fatalities occurred. On December 16, cable car operations, including on the route where the accident occurred, resumed.