The investigation into the explosion in the "Surmalu" shopping center continues.

 

As part of the criminal case, the prosecutor of the city of Yerevan, Sevak Hovhannisyan, made a request to the head of the technical and fire inspection of urban planning of the Republic of Armenia with the aim of clarifying and eliminating the circumstances that contributed to the commission of the crime. In the course of the preliminary investigation of the criminal case initiated in connection with the fire in the "Surmala" shopping center on 06.04.2021 and the explosion on 14.08.2022, it was established that the head of the urban planning, technical and fire safety inspection of the RA ordered an inspection of CJSC "Yerevansky konsverny zavod" yet in 2021.

 

According to the results of the inspection of the object, 16 violations of the requirements of technical and normative documents on fire safety were revealed, and the terms of their elimination were fixed. It was also established that some businessmen in the "Surmalu" shopping center were engaged in the storage and free sale of pyrotechnic products, which is not allowed according to the rules of fire safety, approved by Order No. 595 of the Minister of Territorial Administration and Emergency Situations of RA dated 18.06.2015. From the investigation of the documents available in the criminal proceedings, it was also established that on the basis of the order of the head of the inspection body for urban planning, technical and fire safety of the Republic of Armenia from February 10, 2021, an order was given to conduct an inspection at CJSC "Yerevanskiy Konservny Zavod" (Yerevan, Arshakunyats Ave. house 15) with the aim of complying with the requirements of legal acts in the field of technical and fire safety, in accordance with the checklist provided by Appendix No. 10 of RA Government Decree No. 1025-Н dated 08.08.2019. According to the results of the inspection of the facility, 16 violations of technical requirements were actually revealed and regulatory documents on fire safety.

 

In the course of the preliminary investigation, when studying the documents seized from the technical and fire inspection body of RA urban planning by the corresponding decision of the investigator, it was established that no actions aimed at new inspections and preventive measures were taken after the expiration of the deadline for eliminating the fixed violations.

 

Meanwhile, as a result of inspections conducted in the "Surmalu" shopping center, many violations of fire safety rules were recorded, which have already become the cause of the fire.

 

On the basis of the above and in order to exclude new similar cases, the prosecutor of the city of Yerevan proposed to discuss in a short time conducting inspections in large shopping centers operating in Yerevan, and especially in shopping centers reconstructed on the basis of buildings that were not built as intended, in shopping halls operating throughout the country, as well as the issue of compliance with the requirements of the minister's order on emergency situations of 2015 by businessmen selling fireworks in places of mass gathering of people, as well as the suspension of the activities of CJSC "Yerevansky konservny zavod" until the fixed violations of fire safety rules are eliminated.