New Details and Footage from the Explosion: Ministry of Internal Affairs

On June 6, at 23:14, the National Crisis Management Center of the Ministry of Internal Affairs received numerous reports regarding an explosion and fire at a gas station located on the Yerevan-Sevan highway. This information was provided by the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

Four fire-fighting crews, operational and standby groups from the Crisis Management National Center, Rescue Forces, and Medical Support Departments were dispatched to the scene. Due to the complexity of the fire, a level 3 alarm was declared.

Thirteen fire-fighting crews, four operational groups, one rescue team, and twelve water trucks from the community were involved in the firefighting efforts. Five of the trucks were from the Yerevan municipality, three from the Abovyan community, one each from the Nor Hachn and Akunk communities, and two trucks from a resident of the Balakhovit community.

The firefighting operations were led by the head of the Rescue Forces Department, Colonel A. Gevorgyan.

According to preliminary information, an explosion occurred at the gas station of “Gazoil” LLC located at address 6/1 on the Yerevan-Sevan highway, involving a liquid gas cistern (37 tons) and resulting in a fire outbreak. In the gas station area, three liquid gas cisterns (each weighing 37 tons), one diesel tank (8 tons), and one gasoline tank (12 tons) leaked, accompanied by a fire outbreak.

The vehicles “Mercedes” and “Opel” were completely burned, the cabin of a trailer truck was fully burnt, the cistern of another gas truck was also entirely burned, and the cabin of another gas truck was fully engulfed. The left side of a “BMW” vehicle was thermally damaged.

The structural elements of the gas station’s roof (approximately 120 square meters) were burned, including windows and doors. Nearby refrigerators were damaged, and the roof of the administrative building (approximately 150 square meters) was burned, with property damage reported. In the back area of a construction material storage, around 40 square meters of accumulated debris also caught fire.

As a result of the explosion and fire, seven civilians were injured, one of whom was discharged after receiving appropriate medical assistance at the Abovyan Medical Center, while six others were admitted to the National Burns and Skin Diseases Center.

The segment of the Yerevan-Sevan highway between kilometers 16 and 18 was temporarily closed to traffic from both directions. Overall operations were supervised by the Deputy Director of the Rescue Service, Major General Kamo Tsutsulyan.

Deputies of the Rescue Service Director and other officials were also present at the scene. As of June 7 at 08:51, all the reservoirs had stopped leaking. Three fire-fighting crews were on duty at the site, regularly carrying out cooling and freezing operations. By 10:00, traffic on the Yerevan-Sevan highway had been fully restored.