“It is obvious from the video that there can be no talk of a terrorist act there because there was some burning, smoke, and then an explosion. There was a certain amount of fire inside, then it spread to the explosives,” Minister of Emergency Situations Armen Pambukhchyan said in a conversation with journalists today, referring to the news circulating on social media that the explosion in the Surmalu Shopping Center was a terrorist act, as before that there were alarms that bombs were planted in metro stations, in the municipality, and in other places.
The minister said that the letter about the bombs placed in all metro stations and in the municipality was the 3rd letter of its kind recently. “Yesterday, the writer of the letter took responsibility. Yesterday was the grape blessing. There was a bomb warning in the church and in the zoo. In these difficult conditions, we provided forces, and together with the police and the National Security Service, we were able to fully investigate, and no bomb was found.”
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As for the firefighting and search and rescue works in the area of the Surmalu Shopping Center and the complaints of the missing relatives, the minister informed that the director and deputies of the rescue service were on duty yesterday. The 3rd and 4th zones were completely cleared in the morning. “If the works were not carried out, that part could not have been cleaned.”
Pambukhchyan assured that they worked in shifts. There was no shortage of resources, neither human nor equipment.
At the moment, the columns that pose a danger are being neutralized. It is assumed that there may be citizens in that part, and there is a danger of collapse in that part. “Works have not stopped for a second. In the morning, the forces were supplemented by search and rescue teams from Tavush and Shirak provinces. The rescuers are selflessly trying to do everything in order to be able to pull people out from under the rubble. It is assumed that there will be citizens under the rubble. We cannot do such an operation. Let’s say, we cannot do an operation with a tractor, which might harm the citizens under the rubble. This should be taken into account. There are cases when they move the stones to the truck by hand, we don’t operate the tractor, because there might be a citizen in that area,” said the minister.
He said that the last two casualties were found thanks to the work of the canine team. The dog gave the signal.
At the moment, the probability of an explosion in the territory of the shopping center is small, and as the minister said, very small explosions are possible. There were one or two such explosions in the morning, but there is still a danger of the building collapsing.
Yesterday, there was an explosion and a fire in the Surmalu Shopping Center, as a result of which, according to official data, 6 citizens died, 16 are missing, and 61 injured were transferred to different medical centers, and 13 citizens are currently being treated in the medical centers.
Nelly Babayan
