Arayik Mkrtumyan, one of the relatives of the citizens who remained under the rubble of the “Surmalu” shopping center, told reporters that he is dissatisfied with the work of the Ministry of Emergency Situations, the reason being that the necessary amount of equipment is not involved in rescue operations.

Deputy Minister of Emergency Situations Davit Hambaryan told the relatives that everything is being done carefully and professionally.

Arayik Mkrtumyan noted that his brother’s two daughters and the five-year-old child of one of them are being sought. To the question of whether it is about a pregnant woman, Mkrtumyan said: “Yes, and there is no crane. My brother’s child, a pregnant woman, is under the rubble. We carry stones by hand from 7:00 in the morning, we asked for equipment from seven o’clock, it arrived at 11:00. Since yesterday, there has been a crash on this site. They are not working properly. Two sisters and a small child are now under the rubbles – Khachatryan Marianna and Khachatryan Sirarpi,” Arayik Mkrtumyan told.

It should be noted that the Minister of Emergency Situations has informed that search and rescue works have been going on for several hours. 

“We assume that there will be citizens, we approach the works with a little caution not to harm the citizens below, under the rubble,” he stated.

Press secretary of the Yerevan Municipality Levon Sardaryan noted the same, adding that it does not allow heavy equipment to be used.

“Works are carried out manually. At certain intervals, a minute 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 poisonous smoke does not allow us to approach the epicenter of the explosion,” Sardaryan stated.