Approximately 4 Tons of Hazardous Materials Were Present Before the Explosion, Says Pambukhchyan

After the explosion at the Surmalu shopping center, we currently have two missing persons and 16 casualties, one of whom remains unidentified, Minister of Emergency Situations Armen Pambukhchyan stated during a conversation with reporters.

The minister noted that previously there were three missing persons, but new information has emerged regarding one of them, a Russian citizen. It has been clarified that this individual is not connected to the Surmalu incident and was operated on under entirely different circumstances before losing contact with relatives. This situation explains why we now have two individuals considered missing instead of three.

Pambukhchyan stated that only one of the 16 deceased has yet to be identified. Once the identity of this individual is established, there will effectively be just one person considered missing.

The minister mentioned that search efforts for citizens are mainly occurring at the back of a partially constructed building that has not collapsed. Currently, cooling efforts are being performed partially in certain areas as needed. The collapsed debris is being intensively removed while parallel search-and-rescue operations are underway.

Following the completion of search and rescue operations, discussions will be held regarding the demolition of the remaining parts of the building. The minister also provided information about conversations with the shopping center's owner, which yielded all necessary information about what might exist in the building and based on this information, the operations have been conducted.

When asked whether there might still be hazardous materials in the basement and storage areas, the minister replied that 50-60% of the area has already been cleared. If such materials were present, they would have already been found.

Pambukhchyan also disclosed that through communications with the owner, it was determined that there were, by preliminary estimates, 4-5 tons of hazardous materials in the building prior to the explosion. He added that if the identity of the one unidentified victim is clarified, only one citizen will remain under the rubble, and their approximate location is already known. After that, operations will proceed more rapidly, as heavier machinery will be able to work in place of human efforts.