The first thing that had to be clarified was who did what and what did not do. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan stated this at Thursday’s Cabinet meeting of the Armenian government—and referring to the tragic fire that happened in a military unit in Gegharkunik Province.
In particular, he stated: "We have found out that the fire service of the Rescue Service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs arrived at the right time, but of course, the distance was quite long.
We have found out that on December 21, 2022, the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces signed the 14-GSH order with the following title: ‘About the fires that happened in the military units of the armed forces and their prevention.’ He clearly instructed, gave an order, what should be done to comply with the fire [safety] regulations. It is not necessary to publish the whole text; in point 7 it is stated: ‘to strictly forbidden to use automotive gasoline, nephrite, and other types of flammable liquids as an ignition for the operation of stoves, to store them separately from other liquids.’
The primitive keeping of this command would have simply prevented this from happening. But we find out that not only gasoline was used, but according to preliminary data, the [defense] minister reported that special burners are allocated to light the stoves, so that there will be no need for additional things.
An attempt was made to fill the furnace with a 5-liter container. Naturally, when there was an open fire, not only the stove was burned, but also the gasoline. The fire spread to the officer who was trying to light the stove, after which, based on self-defense instinct, the 5-liter gasoline was thrown in the direction of the military unit's accommodation. I guess not on purpose. After that, it is already clear what happened."
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.
