SUKHUM, September 9. /TASS/. Prime Minister of Abkhazia Gennady Gaguliya died in a traffic accident on Saturday evening, press secretary of the republican government Diana Zantariya told TASS.

The traffic accident occurred near the Myussera militia post, she said. According to information available, the driver and security guards of the prime minister were not injured.

The accident occurred at about 23.00 Moscow time at the Psou - Sukhum motorway, the Abkhazia’s Cabinet of Ministers said on its website.

"The car with the prime minister was in the cortege of the official delegation of Abkhazia returning from the Syrian Arab Republic. According to preliminary data, nobody was injured as a result of the accident," the statement says.

Gaguliya was appointed to the office of the prime minister in April 2018. He was the Chairman of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Republic before the appointment.</s>The prime minister of the breakaway Georgian province of Abkhazia died late Saturday in a car crash as his motorcade returned from the airport following a visit to Syria.

The motorcade carrying Gennady Gaguliya was struck by a car that entered the oncoming lane, Deputy Interior Minister Kazbek Kimshakov told the TASS news agency. The accident occurred around 8 p.m. GMT.

Kimshakov said the driver was a young Abkhazian and that the incident was being investigated.

The prime minister's driver and security guard were injured in the accident.

"They were delivered to the hospital. The condition is assessed as critical but doctors assured they will survive," assistant prosecutor general Daur Achimba told TASS.

Gaguliya had taken part in a visit to Syria to meet with members of the Abkhaz diaspora, according to a government website.

Abkhazia's independence is only recognized by a few countries, primarily Russia. Georgia considers the region to still be part of its territory, though it has not had effective control of either Abkhazia or another breakaway region, South Ossetia, since a 2008 war with Russia.</s>"Yes, we confirm this information. The accident took place near the Myussera post. According to preliminary information, Gennady Leonidovich was still alive on the way to hospital. No one else got hurt [in the accident]," Zantaria said.

Naala Avidzba, the spokeswoman for the president of Abkhazia, ruled out a terrorist attack or assassination as possible causes of the accident.

READ MORE: Number of Injured in Munitions Depot Blast in Abkhazia Up to 64

"It was an accident. The prime minister was killed in a car accident. A terrorist attack or assassination are not the case here," Avidzba said.

According to the republic's Interior Ministry, two more people were injured in the road accident.</s>The prime minister of Georgia’s separatist republic of Abkhazia died in a car crash late Saturday, the local government said.

Gennady Gaguliya, 70, was killed in a crash on the road between Psou in the south of Russia and Sukhumi in the breakaway region, according to a statement on the Abkhazia cabinet website.

Russia’s TASS news agency reported Galuliya was travelling in a delegation returning from Syria. His driver and security guards were not injured, the news agency quoted a government spokesperson as saying.

The republic is led by president Raul Khajimba.

Moscow became one of the few capitals to recognise the independence of Abkhazia, along with breakaway republic South Ossetia, following a Russia-Georgia war a decade ago.

The two regions constitute 20 per cent of Georgia’s territory.

Georgia and its Western allies have condemned Russia’s continued “occupation” of its territory and have demanded the Kremlin reverse its recognition of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

Georgia and its Soviet-era master Moscow have long been at loggerheads over Tbilisi’s bid to join the European Union and Nato, with the spiralling confrontation culminating in a full-blown war in August 2008.

Russia stationed permanent military bases in the breakaway regions after the conflict.</s>The Prime Minister of Abkhazia, Gennady Gagulia, has been killed in a car crash en route to his home republic from Russia's Sochi airport, after wrapping up an official state visit to Syria, local authorities confirmed.The premier's convoy was involved in an accident at around 10pm local time in Gudauta District of the independent republic just after passing a 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.. According to witnesses, the tragedy happened afterFollowing the fatal collision, Gagulia's bodyguard and driver were also taken to a hospital, where they remain in a "satisfactory" condition, a spokesperson for the Interior Ministry said.The 70-year-old prime minister of Abkhazia served as chairman of the Council of Ministers twice (1995 - 1997, 2002 - 2003) when the small coastal republic was still considered to be 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.</s>The prime minister of Georgia’s separatist republic of Abkhazia died in a car crash late Saturday, the local government said.

Gennady Gaguliya, 70, was killed in a crash on the road between Psou in the south of Russia and Sukhumi in the breakaway region, according to a statement on the Abkhazia cabinet website.

Russia’s TASS news agency reported Galuliya was travelling in a delegation returning from Syria. His driver and security guards were not injured, the news agency quoted a government spokesperson as saying.

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The republic is led by president Raul Khajimba.

Moscow became one of the few capitals to recognise the independence of Abkhazia, along with breakaway republic South Ossetia, following a Russia-Georgia war a decade ago.

The two regions constitute 20 per cent of Georgia’s territory.

Georgia and its Western allies have condemned Russia’s continued “occupation” of its territory and have demanded the Kremlin reverse its recognition of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.</s>The 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.

The premier’s cortege got into an accident around 10pm local time in Gudauta District of the independent republic just after passing a 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.

Think your friends would be interested? Share this story!</s>Moscow, Sep 9: The prime minister of Georgia's separatist republic of Abkhazia died in a car crash on Saturday (September 9), the local government said.

Gennady Gaguliya, 70, was killed in a crash on the road between Psou in the south of Russia and Sukhumi in the breakaway region, according to a statement on the Abkhazia cabinet website. Galuliya was travelling in a delegation returning from Syria. His driver and security guards were not injured, the news agency quoted a government spokesperson as saying. The republic is led by president Raul Khajimba.

Moscow became one of the few capitals to recognise the independence of Abkhazia, along with breakaway republic South Ossetia, following a Russia-Georgia war a decade ago. The two regions constitute 20 per cent of Georgia's territory. Georgia and its Western allies have condemned Russia's continued "occupation" of its territory and have demanded the Kremlin reverse its recognition of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Georgia and its Soviet-era master Moscow have long been at loggerheads over Tbilisi's bid to join the European Union and NATO, with the spiralling confrontation culminating in a full-blown war in August 2008. Russia stationed permanent military bases in the breakaway regions after the conflict.</s>MOSCOW: The prime minister of Georgia's separatist republic of Abkhazia died in a car crash late Saturday, the local government said.

Gennady Gaguliya, 70, was killed in a crash on the road between Psou in the south of Russia and Sukhumi in the breakaway region, according to a statement on the Abkhazia cabinet website.

Russia's TASS news agency reported Galuliya was travelling in a delegation returning from Syria.

His driver and security guards were not injured, the news agency quoted a government spokesperson as saying.

The republic is led by president Raul Khajimba.

Moscow became one of the few capitals to recognise the independence of Abkhazia, along with breakaway republic South Ossetia, following a Russia-Georgia war a decade ago.

The two regions constitute 20 per cent of Georgia's territory.

Georgia and its Western allies have condemned Russia's continued "occupation" of its territory and have demanded the Kremlin reverse its recognition of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

Georgia and its Soviet-era master Moscow have long been at loggerheads over Tbilisi's bid to join the European Union and NATO, with the spiralling confrontation culminating in a full-blown war in August 2008.

Russia stationed permanent military bases in the breakaway regions after the conflict.</s>The prime minister of the Russia-backed breakaway Georgian region of Abkhazia has died in an automobile accident, the separatist government says.



The region's press office on September 8 said 70-year-old Gennady Gagulia died on the road between Psou in the south of Russia and Sukhumi in the breakaway region. Differing reports make it unclear whether his driver and any security guards were injured.

Russian state-run TASS news agency said Gagulia had been traveling with a delegation returning from Syria.

Syria in May agreed to recognize Abkhazia and a second breakaway Georgian region, South Ossetia, as independent countries.

The regions' claims of independence from Georgia came following separatist wars in the early 1990s.

After a brief war with Tbilisi in 2008, Russia recognized Abkhazia as independent and has since stepped up its military presence there.

The vast majority of countries rejects the regions' independence claims and considers them part of Georgia.

Abkhazia is ruled by President Raul Khajimba, who in 2014 won the region's presidential election, which the central government in Georgia called illegal.

TASS reported that Khajimba expressed his condolences to Gagulia's family. Khajimba said he was in the same motorcade but was not injured.

According to local reports, Gagulia assumed the post in April and had previously been the prime minister from 1995-97 and 2002-03.

In June, the European Parliament passed a resolution demanding that Russia reverse its "decision to recognize the so-called independence of the Georgian territories of Abkhazia and South Ossetia."

The declaration also called on Russia to "cease its occupation" of the two breakaway regions and "fully respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Georgia, as well as the inviolability of its internationally recognized borders, and that it stop the de facto integration of both regions into the Russian administration."

With reporting by AFP, TASS, REN TV, and IZ.ru
The Prime Minister of Abkhazia Gennadi Gagulia dies in a car accident in Abkhazia after returning from a trip to Syria.