Armenian president expresses his condolences over the death of six-month Gyumri boy

YEREVAN, JANUARY 19. / ARKA /. Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan expressed his condolences today in connection with the death of the 6-month Seryozha Avetisyan, the only survivor from an Armenian family of six in Gyumri who were shot and killed by an AWOL Russian soldier Valery Permyakov. The boy died today at Holy Virgin medical center in Yerevan.

"We were unable to save the life of the small Seryozha, despite the efforts of the best Armenian and Russian professionals. The light that was the only consolation for all of us after the horrible crime in Gyumri has extinguished", the president said.

"I condole with the Avetisyans' relatives, all residents of Gyumri, with all our people. The words of sympathy, no matter how often they are said, will not soothe the grief and will not return the child, but we must be firm.  We need to find the strength and durability. There is no other formula of life. We must continue to live to seek for a fair retribution for all the pain and the crime,” the president’s letter reads.

The boy had been fighting for his life in the Yerevan hospital a week after the killing rampage on January 12. The Armenian Ministry of Health said the best local and foreign doctors fought for the baby's life, but they failed. 

The boy developed cardiovascular, pulmonary and renal failures with irreversible consequences causing his death. He was moved earlier from Gyumri to Yerevan with multiple organ failures in an extremely serious condition, with blood loss and hemorrhagic shock.

Permyakov who has reportedly confessed to the attack, killed the boy's two grandparents, their son and daughter, a daughter-in-law, and a 2-year-old granddaughter with bullets from his AK-74 rifle at their home. The attacker used a bayonet to try to kill Seryozha who was in the cradle.-0-