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Fire kills 15 at Armenian Military Barracks

Yerevan: A fire killed 15 servicemen and seriously injured three others in Armenia on Thursday after ripping through a military barracks overnight, the defence ministry said.
The blaze “broke out in the barracks of an engineer and sniper company of a military unit”, the ministry said.

“Fifteen servicemen were killed as a result… The condition of three (other) servicemen is assessed as serious.”

It said the fire started at around 01:30 am on Thursday (2130 GMT Wednesday) in the barracks in Azat, a village in the eastern region of Gegharkunik, near the border with Azerbaijan.

The incident was “a result of the violation of fire safety rules, during which prohibited substances were used”, Defence Minister Suren Papikyan told a cabinet meeting, citing preliminary information.

“We are talking about gasoline,” he said.

Papikyan dismissed an army corps commander and several senior officers over the incident.

Investigators said a criminal probe was underway into the violation of safety standards.