The press secretary of the Yerevan Municipality, Levon Sardaryan, who is personally following the rescue operations in the “Surmalu” shopping center, responded to the citizens’ question as to why the search and rescue operations are progressing slowly.

He noted that presumably, there may be survivors under the rubble, which does not allow the use of heavy equipment.

“Works are carried out manually. At certain intervals, a moment of silence is announced in order to listen to the voices of all the people who remained under the rubble. At the same time, the fire in the depths has not gone out and the toxic smoke does not allow us to approach the epicenter of the explosion,” Sardaryan added.

Earlier today a fire broke out in the “Surmalu” shopping center today. Firefighting operations are currently ongoing.