Results of Toxicological Examination in Case of 15 Soldiers' Deaths Revealed

The results of the toxicological examination assigned in connection with the deaths of 15 soldiers who perished in a fire at the military barracks in Azat village a month ago have been revealed.

According to News.am, Gagik Abrahamyan, the press secretary of the Investigative Committee, stated, “We have received the results of the toxicological examination for three individuals. In all three cases, no drugs were found in their blood.”

One of the toxicological conclusions pertains to the primary accused in the official narrative of the fire, Captain Yeghishe Hakobyan. His lawyer previously stated that no drugs had been detected in the captain's blood.

Regarding the other two toxicological results, Abrahamyan noted that they pertain to the conscript soldiers. However, the spokesperson did not disclose which soldiers these results refer to.

It is worth noting that Captain Yeghishe Hakobyan and conscript soldiers Lyova Kharatyan and Garush Sarkisyan were transferred to the National Burn Center following the fire. Additionally, two more conscript soldiers were injured but were released from the Vardenis hospital after receiving treatment on the day of the incident.

The accused Captain Hakobyan, who sustained burns, underwent surgery days ago and provided a statement about the incident almost a month later. He does not accept the charges against him. His attorney shared details of the testimony with the media.

Recall that the captain is charged under Article 532, part 4 of the RA Criminal Code, which pertains to violating the rules for handling weapons, military ammunition, military equipment, or other materials posing greater threat to the environment, resulting in the careless death of two or more individuals.

Three military personnel also hold the status of accused in the case concerning the deaths of the 15 soldiers, two of whom are in custody, while one has been placed under a signature not to leave.

To recap, on January 19, a fire broke out in the barracks of the engineering battalion of the military unit located in the village of Azat in the Gegharkunik region. According to the Investigative Committee, the captain, responsible for the seating area at around 00:40 that day, violated the regulations concerning handling gasoline, a highly flammable substance, which prohibited the use of such materials for lighting stoves due to fire safety regulations.

After confirming the location of the allocated diesel fuel and gasoline with the day's duty officer, the captain independently took one out of ten plastic containers filled with five liters of gasoline allotted for starting vehicles from the nearby vehicle collection point, returned to the barracks, and used the gasoline to ignite the stove. As a result, a fire broke out in the barracks.

The fire led to the deaths of 15 conscript soldiers, while the captain and four conscript soldiers sustained varying degrees of physical injuries.