A monstrous incident happened at night, and 15 servicemen were killed as a result of the fire in the accommodation of the Ministry of Defense (MOD) military unit located in Azat village of Gegharkunik Province. This was announced by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan at the beginning of Thursday’s Cabinet meeting of the Armenian government, then he asked the attendees to stand up and pay respects the casualties of this incident.

"Since last night, we have been working on the incident, particularly with the Ministry of Defense," he said, asking Minister of Defense Suren Papikyan to present the details of the incident.

Papikyan said: "According to the preliminary data reported by the Military Police, a fire broke out as a result of the violation of fire [safety] rules, during which a prohibited means was also used. It also refers to automotive gasoline, which could not be extinguished later."

Earlier, Armenian News-NEWS.am reported that at around 1:30am on Thursday, a fire broke out—under still unknown circumstances—in the accommodation of the engineer-sapper troop of the military unit located in the territory of Azat village of Armenia’s Gegharkunik Province. According to preliminary data, 15 servicemen have died as a result of this fire, and three others are in severe condition.