YEREVAN, Jan 19 A fire in a barracks in Armenia where 15 soldiers were killed, according to preliminary data, it arose due to a violation of safety rules, gasoline ignited, Defense Minister Suren Papikyan said at a government meeting on Thursday.
Earlier, the Armenian Defense Ministry reported that as a result of a fire in the barracks of an engineer company of one of the military units, 15 servicemen were killed, and the condition of three servicemen is assessed as serious.
«According to the preliminary data of the military police, the fire occurred as a result of a violation of fire safety rules, a prohibited agent was used, we are talking about motor gasoline,» Papikyan said.
Head of the Investigative Committee of Armenia Argishti Kyaramyan stated that a criminal case has been initiated under the article «violation of the rules for handling materials that pose a danger to others, resulting in the death of two or more persons.»
«There is a preliminary version that the fire occurred as a result of a violation of safety rules during the heating of the building,» Kyaramyan said.
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said that back in December 2022, the Chief of the General Staff forbade the use of gasoline and other flammable liquids for ignition in stoves.
According to him, according to preliminary data, the officer tried to light the stove using a five-liter container with gasoline, the fire spread to him and the officer, trying to escape, threw the container towards the barracks. Pashinyan noted that in this case, «the instinct of self-preservation worked.» «Naturally, or with a high degree of probability, this was done unintentionally in this situation. After that, it is clear what happened. I hope the Prosecutor General's Office and the Investigative Committee will establish all the circumstances,» Pashinyan said.