YEREVAN, AUGUST 16, ARMENPRESS. Minister of Emergency Situations Armen Pambukhchyan delivered a press briefing and presented details from the ongoing search and rescue operation at the Surmalu market in Yerevan.

“As of this moment we have 16 deaths and 17 others are presumed missing. The number of those missing was 18, but we received a call regarding one of them and turned out the person is abroad, meaning the person is safe and sound and wasn’t even here at all,” the minister said.

Firefighters are now carrying out cooling operations as the fire was put out. “The search and rescue operations are ongoing in full volumes,” he added.

Pambukhchyan said rescuers don’t use heavy equipment because there is still some probability that there might be survivors under the rubble.

“We are clearing the area as much as we can, then rescuers are inspecting the given section and then only the heavy equipment is brought in,” he said.

As of this moment 6 of the victims are identified, while 10 bodies are yet to be identified. He said that most probably the number of those unaccounted for will decrease when all bodies are identified.

Pambukhchyan also addressed reports in the press and social media claiming that survivors were pulled out. “I am asking our citizens to follow only official updates because such reports give [false] hope to the families and it doesn’t anyhow help our work. I am asking and urging everyone to stop spreading such news. We are actively working with the media, we are the first to know all news and we inform the press and the public right away,” Pambukhchyan said.

He added that the fire which caused the blast started from the warehouse of flammable materials.

150 people work on the site of the blast during the day. Most of the work is carried out by rescuers and volunteers from the Armenian Red Cross and the VOMA survival-training organization.

Pambukhchyan said they have the required number of manpower and equipment.

He said he can’t say when the search and rescue operations will be completed.