Scientists are flying to the site of a Russian avalanche which may have killed up to 150 people in Russia's Caucasus Mountains.
They will find out whether the glacier that caused the disaster could break again.
A huge chunk which crashed down a mountainside is hanging at a dangerous angle and could break off.
Vladimir Ivanov of the Emergency Situations Ministry of the Russian republic of North Ossetia said it might cause further destruction.
Ivanov said a group of glaciologists would take a helicopter to the area and then climb up to the glacier with the help of experienced mountain climbers.
He said that after the inspection, officials would decide whether to knock the glacier down or take any other measures.
Rescuers resumed picking through the disaster zone but held out little hope of finding anybody alive.
"It's difficult to say that anybody could survive such a calamity," Emergency Situations Minister Sergei Shoigu told Russia's NTV television.
Emergency workers so far have recovered 10 bodies, but officials fear the avalanche may have killed as many as 150. Ivanov said there were 97 names on the official list of the missing as of Wednesday.
PA
