YEREVAN. – The construction, which was undergoing at the Yerevan building that collapsed on Thursday, was illegal. An outdoor café and an entertainment center were being built there, Yerevan Municipality Information and Public Relations Department Chief Artur Gevorgyan told Armenian News-NEWS.am.      

“A construction permit was issued to build an outdoor café and an entertainment center. The permit was given on 23.12.2009, its deadline was extended to 17.03.2011,” Gevorgyan said.

He noted that the Municipality had reported that the construction was not finished within the specified period. A report was prepared on these grounds and a fine was imposed. “We had the construction stopped. Subsequently, the constructor had to apply to the Municipality and be issued a permit to resume the [construction] work, but he did not do that. At present, he did not have a permit to carry out construction work,” Artur Gevorgyan stated.        

As Armenian News-NEWS.am informed earlier, a construction crew of eleven remained under the debris as a result of Thursday’s collapse of a building in downtown Yerevan, the Health Ministry informed Armenian News-NEWS.am. 

Nine of the injured were taken to hospital on ambulances. Five of them are in very critical condition while the remaining four are in average critical condition. But this information is only preliminary. Two other construction workers, who were removed from underneath the debris, received first at the construction site, and there was no need to hospitalize them, the Ministry informed.      

To note, a semi-constructed building collapsed on Thursday morning in Yerevan. The Ministry of Emergency Situations (MES) received a call at 1:10pm informing that firemen and rescuers were needed. Subsequently, the firemen and rescuers were dispatched to the scene, MES informed.

And the identities of the nine injured are made public, and they are as follows: Kamo Kagramanov, 50, Arman, 40, Arman Grigoryan, 25, Arsen Hayrapetyan, 30, Nahapet Badalyan, Volodya Matevosyan, Sirak Tovmasyan, Edik Sukiasyan, 30, and Robert Arakelyan, 53.

Minister of Emergency Situations Armen Yeritsyan has arrived at the scene of the incident.

Photo by Arsen Sargsyan/NEWS.am