A building under construction in the center of Yerevan collapsed on Thursday, injuring 11 workers.
Nine of them were hospitalized in a rescue operation that was personally coordinated by Emergency Situations Minister Armen Yeritsian at the site.
The injured workers, all of them residents of a village 40 kilometers north of Yerevan, were rushed to the intensive care unit of the city’s Surb Grigor Lusavorich hospital. Doctors there said later in the day that their life is no longer at risk.
The Armenian police launched a criminal investigation under articles of the Criminal Code dealing with violation of safety standards. Nobody was immediately detained or questioned.
According to Yerevan’s municipal administration, the under-construction building belongs to two private firms. A spokesman for the municipality told RFE/RL’s Armenian service (Azatutyun.am) that their construction license issued in 2009 expired and both firms were fined recently.
The injured workers, all of them residents of a village 40 kilometers north of Yerevan, were rushed to the intensive care unit of the city’s Surb Grigor Lusavorich hospital. Doctors there said later in the day that their life is no longer at risk.
The Armenian police launched a criminal investigation under articles of the Criminal Code dealing with violation of safety standards. Nobody was immediately detained or questioned.
According to Yerevan’s municipal administration, the under-construction building belongs to two private firms. A spokesman for the municipality told RFE/RL’s Armenian service (Azatutyun.am) that their construction license issued in 2009 expired and both firms were fined recently.