Ruben Vardanyan offers condolences to families of soldiers killed in barracks fire
State Minister Ruben Vardanyan of the Artsakh Republic has expressed his condolences to the families of 15 servicemen killed in an overnight fire in the barracks of an Armenian military unit.
“I was deeply saddened to learn about the tragic incident that occurred in an Armenian military unit last night and resulted in heavy losses,” he wrote on Facebook on Thursday.
“I would like to express my deepest condolences to the families of the deceased soldiers," Vardanyan said.
The fire broke out in the barracks of an engineer and sapper company in a military unit in Azat, a village in Armenia's eastern Gegharkunik Province, early on Thursday.
The authorities said that seven other soldiers were injured in the fire, and three of them remained in serious condition.
At a cabinet meeting on Thursday, Armenian Defense Minister Suren Papikyan said that the fire erupted because soldiers used gasoline to fuel a stove.