Second military officer detained in connection with military barracks fire

YEREVAN, January 31. /ARKA/. A second Armenian military officer was detained in connection with January 19 fire in a barracks of a military unit in Gegharkunik province that killed 15 servicemen and seriously injured three others.

According to the Office of Prosecutor General, the second officer, identified as Major M.S. is the chief of fire and rescue services of the military base in Gegharkunik.

Earlier, the law-enforcers arrested a deputy commander of the military base who was in charge of rear supply and accommodation.

Both men are charged with "military malpractice, which by negligence led to the death of men" (Part 3 of Article 550 of RA Criminal Code).

According to the preliminary investigation, the fire broke out in the early hours on January 19 in the barracks of a military unit due to a serious violation of fire-safety rules. The military unit was in the village of Azat, in eastern Gegharkunik province that borders with Azerbaijan.

According to the investigators, an officer of the unit used a large amount of petrol to start a fire in a wood stove used to heat the barracks, although the use of petrol and other highly inflammable liquids for such purposes is strictly banned.

The preliminary investigation established that because of the absence of proper fire protection measures, the soldiers inside the barracks were not only unable to put out the fire but also to break the iron bars on the windows in the absence of an emergency exit. As a result, 15 conscripts died and an officer and four other conscripts were injured to various degrees.

Defense Minister Suren Papikyan was quick to sack army officers, including Vahram Grigoryan, the commander of the army’s Second Corps stationed in Gegharkunik. Grigoryan’s three deputies and the chief of the Defense Ministry’s fire-safety service were also fired.--0-