Public criminal prosecution has been initiated against officer E.H., commander of the architectural service of military unit N of the RA Ministry of Defense, who attempted to light a stove with gasoline in the barracks of the architectural construction company located in the village of Azat in Gegharkunik Province. The information was announced by the RA Prosecutor General’s Office.
Criminal prosecution has been initiated under Part 4 of Article 532 of the RA Criminal Code (violation of rules for handling weapons, ammunition, military equipment or other military property, substances, devices or objects posing increased danger to the surroundings, which through negligence caused the death of two or more persons).
“Sufficient facts have been obtained that E.H., on January 19, 2023, at approximately 00:40, while serving as the officer in charge of the duty shift, violated the requirement established by legislation regarding the handling of a substance posing increased danger to the surroundings—automobile gasoline—according to which, for fire safety purposes, the use of automobile gasoline and other types of flammable liquids as an accelerant for lighting stoves is prohibited,” the statement said.
The Prosecutor’s Office stated that E.H., with the aim of lighting the stove in operation at the barracks designated for the personnel of the architectural construction company of military unit N of the RA Ministry of Defense, located at 20 First Street in the village of Azat, Gegharkunik Province, having ascertained from the day’s duty officer the location of the diesel fuel and gasoline allocated to that unit, on his own initiative took from the vehicle parking area adjacent to the barracks one of the ten five-liter cans filled with gasoline designated for starting vehicle engines, returned to the barracks and lit the stove with gasoline. As a result, a fire broke out.
Due to the dishonest and negligent attitude toward the performance of their official duties on the part of a number of responsible officials of the RA Ministry of Defense, appropriate fire protection measures were not in place, and the servicemen inside the barracks were not only unable to extinguish the fire, but it was also impossible to break the iron bars fixed on the barracks windows and escape from there.
