By Paul Vartan Sookiasian
At least seven people were injured, two seriously, in a blast late Thursday evening at a gas station outside of Yerevan. As of Friday morning, emergency workers had put out the fire, Armenia’s Interior Ministry confirmed.
A liquified gas tank exploded just after 11 p.m. in the town of Abovyan along the highway to Lake Sevan, sending clouds of smoke and lighting up the night sky over Yerevan. As of Friday morning, the gas supply to Abovyan is not available for safety reasons, according to Gazprom Armenia.
“Two of the victims hospitalized as a result of the explosion on the Yerevan-Sevan road are still in the intensive care unit, their health condition is extremely serious,” Armenia’s Health Ministry said in a press release Friday morning.
Another four people remain hospitalized with moderate injuries, while one other has already been released after receiving first aid care.
Armenia’s Investigative Committee announced Friday it had already opened a criminal investigation into the incident, citing alleged negligence and fire safety violations.
The authorities moved in February to shut down the gas station, which was operating without a license, the local investigative site Hetq reported Friday. The owner, Rafael Ayvazyan, appealed that decision before filing for bankruptcy, and litigation remains ongoing.
Regional governor Aharon Sahakyan has confirmed that version of the events, saying Thursday evening the gas station “had legal problems,” but was allowed to continue operating until the court made a decision.
Thursday’s blast was reminiscent of an explosion at a fuel depot in Nagorno-Karabakh last September that left at least 218 people dead. The cause of that disaster has not been definitively confirmed.
