Armenia announces two-day mourning

Nikol Pashinyan, the Armenian Prime Minister, has declared August 17 and 18 to be the days of mourning over those who perished in the "Surmalu" shopping centre. Three people remain on the list of missing persons; the fire in the shopping centre is completely extinguished, the Armenian Ministry for Emergencies (MfE) has informed.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on August 14, there was an explosion in a fireworks warehouse located in the "Surmalu" shopping centre in Yerevan. After the explosion, a strong fire started, a part of the building collapsed. The bodies of 16 dead were found and extracted from under the rubbles.

Nikol Pashinyan has declared two days of mourning in memory of the victims of the tragedy at the shopping complex. "I declare mourning on August 17-18 in memory of those who perished during the fire and explosion in the 'Surmalu' shopping centre," says the decree posted on the Premier's website.

The MfE has reported that the number of missing people has dropped to three. "The bodies of 14 out of the 16 casualties have been identified, including one minor child," Aik Kostanyan, the press secretary of the MfE, told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on August 16, 2022 at 07:42 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.