It turns out that ex-police chief of Yerevan Ashot Karapetyan, who was killed in Pyatigorsk, was the owner of the beer factory in Pyatigorsk where the explosion and fire took place, reports Interfax, citing TASS.

“After being dismissed from office, Karapetyan left for Russia where he started his business. Today he has died due to a tragic accident. The second victim is his maternal uncle,” the agency’s interlocutor said.

TASS reports that the explosion didn’t take place during production of beer. “The initial cause of the explosion was the outflow of gas,” the beer factory workers said.

Karapetyan was chief of police in Yerevan between 2013 and 2016 and was dismissed after the “Sasna Tsrer” (Daredevils of Sassoun) armed group seized the premises of the Patrol Sentry Service of the Police of Armenia in July 2016.

Before his dismissal, he had been subjected to disciplinary liability for committing violations while dispersing the demonstration in support of “Sasna Tsrer”, and he was also a witness under the criminal case related to the events of March 1, 2008.