Armenia blames deputy commander's negligence for fatal military barrack fire

The Prosecutor General’s Office of Armenia initiated public criminal proceedings against Commander Gora Aguekyan, blamed for a fatal fire that broke out in military barracks in January 2023.

of the rear of the military unit - the deputy commander of the rear brigade and the municipal maintenance service, lieutenant colonel.

According to Caliber.Az, citing Armenian media outlets, reported, that the decision on criminal prosecution under paragraph 3 of article 550 ("Negligence leading to the death of a person) of the Criminal Code of Armenia was made on January 25, 2023, based on the evidence obtained.

In particular, it was established that Arakelyan, as a deputy brigade commander and a high-ranking official, was responsible for the organization of the protection of the fire safety system in the military unit, working out the necessary actions in extinguishing the fire, the presence of fire extinguishers at all facilities, timely compliance with fire safety requirements, inspection, organization and condition of fire protection at least once every 3 months.

However, as a result of the dishonest and negligent manner in which he performed his duties, he failed to perform described above responsibilities, resulting in the loss of life through negligence.

The prosecutor general’s Office confirms the version about the use of motor gasoline by the officer to ignite the furnace. However, due to the lack of fire protection, not only was it not possible to put the fire out, but also to break the iron bars on the windows to save people.

As a result, 15 members of the engineering company were killed with an officer and four other soldiers were injured to varying degrees.

The investigation is still ongoing.

Caliber.Az recalls, that on the night of January 19, a fire broke out in a house in the village of Azat, which was a temporary barracks for an Armenian Army engineer company. The cause of the accident was the use of gasoline for heating purposes. After the incident, five high-ranking military officers - almost all the commands of the 2nd Army Corps - were dismissed.