Your trusted source

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan left the government office amid a protest staged by the parents of soldiers killed in a military barracks fire in January.

They started the protest outside the government building in central Yerevan on Thursday morning, accusing Armenia’s authorities of trying to cover up the soldiers’ deaths. The protesters demanded a meeting with Pashinyan and Defense Minister Suren Papikyan.

Fifteen Armenian servicemen were killed and three others were severely injured following a major fire that 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, on January 19.

Pashinyan and Papikyan announced shortly after the deadly incident that the fire was sparked by an officer who poured gasoline into a woodstove in violation of the fire safety rules.

The victims’ families distrust the criminal investigation into the incident, claiming their sons were deliberately killed.

Pashinyan has said he will not meet with the soldiers’ parents until the ongoing probe is completed.

“Nikol fled from the other side,” one of the protesting mothers said. “He will have to run away from the Armenian people all his life. The people made a big mistake by electing him.”

Armen Khachatryan, head of the Information and Public Relations Department at the Prime Minister's Office, confirmed to Panorama.am that Pashinyan had left the government building.

"The prime minister is currently in the National Assembly," he said.