YEREVAN, JANUARY 11, ARMENPRESS:

Fire burst in St Nshan Armenian Church in Tbilisi late at night January 9. While extinguishing it, the south-eastern column of the monument collapsed. Armenia's Ministry of Culture told Armenpress that a group of experts has been sent to Tbilisi headed by the head of the agency of protection of historical and cultural monuments Serzhik Arakelyan to study the circumstances of the incident on site and jointly discuss the necessary events.

People living near the church told Times.am correspondent that they are unaware of the causes of the fire. Instead they informed that the church, abandoned by all, has become a place for homeless, drug and alcohol addicts. Georgian authorities too avoid speaking about the causes of the fire. The fire was extinguished by water, instead of foam, which in its turn caused new damages to the walls of the church as a result of which a column of the church collapsed.

In 2002 the church was in fire too. Before that, it was damaged as a result of an earthquake. During the past years the Georgian authorities have not initiated anything for the restoration of the building. Currently the church is standing thanks to the firmness of walls and the three remained columns.