Man-made emergencies in Armenia down 21% in H1 2026

The number of man-made emergencies in Armenia fell by 21% in the first half of 2026 compared with the same period last year, largely due to a significant decline in fires, Acting Director of the Rescue Service and Acting Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs Aram Ghazaryan said.

A total of 6,421 emergency incidents were registered in the first half of 2026, compared with 7,785 during the same period last year.

The decrease was due to a significant decline in man-made and socio-biological emergencies, mainly in the subcategories of fires, which decreased by 1,392 or 36.4%, and poisoning, which decreased by 292 or 22.5%.

Ghazaryan said at a press conference that of the 6,421 emergency incidents registered in the first half of the year, 4,737, or 73.8%, were man-made emergencies, 569, or 8.9%, were natural emergencies, and 1,115, or 17.4%, were socio-biological emergencies.

A total of 146 people were killed and 4,357 were injured as a result of emergency incidents, compared with 152 deaths and 4,709 injuries in the first half of 2025.

Rescue service units saved the lives of 68 people, compared with 75 in 2025. Of those rescued, 64 were involved in traffic accidents, two in fires, and one each in an explosion and a collapse.

“Compared with the reporting period of 2025, a decline was recorded not only in the number of emergency incidents; the numbers of fatalities and injuries also decreased by six, or 3.9%, and 352, or 7.5%, respectively. In the first half of the year, fires accounted for the majority of registered emergency incidents, with 2,431 or 37.9% (7,193 or 92.4% in 2025), followed by traffic accidents, with 2,151 or 33.5% (2,072 or 26.6% in 2025), and poisoning, with 1,006 or 15.7% (1,298 or 16.7% in 2025). Only collapses and rockfalls (1.6%) and the discovery of ammunition (1.3%) accounted for more than 1%, while the figures in the remaining categories did not exceed 1%. In this category, the majority of emergency incidents were fires, at 51.3%, and traffic accidents, at 45.4%. Compared with the first half of 2025, the number of man-made emergencies decreased by 1,258, or 21%, which was mainly due to a significant decline in the fire subcategory,” Ghazaryan said.