YEREVAN, APRIL 2, ARMENPRESS. All victims who were injured in the Burger King restaurant explosion are in stable condition, Speaker of Parliament Ara Babloyan told reporters after personally visiting the Grigor Lusavorich hospital in Yerevan.

The Speaker, who is a pediatric surgeon by profession, considered it his duty to be present at the surgery of a child who was wounded in the blast.

“The condition of the children is fair. They have different traumas, ranging from minor to heavy. Only one of the children is in serious condition – it is a rather large thigh injury. All muscles have been damaged. The injury has reached the bone, but fortunately the bone itself wasn’t damaged. The wounds are fragmentary”, Babloyan said.

Ara Minasyan, director of the St. Grigor Lusavorich hospital, told reporters that the victims had multiple injuries which required stitches.

The families of the victims are gathered in the hospital.

3 citizens of Armenia, 3 citizens of Russia and 2 citizens of Iran have been injured in the burger shop explosion in downtown Yerevan.

The ministry of emergency situations released the identities of the injured : Rudolph Markosyan, 6, Rubina Markosyan, 8, Zaruhi Melikyan, 19, Erik Ashughyan, 24 – Iran national, Alyona Agapova, 15 – Russia national, Liza Abramova, 15 – Russia national, Yaroslav Lyubenko, 15 – Russia national, Zeyna Husseini, 24, Iran national.

The preliminary suspected cause of the Burger King restaurant explosion in Yerevan’s Northern Avenue is the blast of a pressure oxygen cylinder of draught beer keg.

The preliminary cause was announced by Davit Tonoyan, minister of emergency situations of Armenia, who personally visited the scene of the blast. The minister went inside the restaurant and viewed the area.

The minister didn’t mention other details of the probable cause, adding that investigators and technical security experts are looking into it.

“There can be different causes – pressure fluctuations, high pressure etc. It isn’t appropriate to speak about any culprit at this moment”, he said.

He reassured that there is no fire safety-related issue with this case, but at the same time added that the ministry is carrying out heightened control and inspections after the recent Kemerovo mall disaster in Russia.

Emergency personnel were notified on the blast at 20:44, April 2.

Multiple firefighting units, paramedics and law enforcement officers were dispatched to the restaurant in Yerevan’s Northern Avenue.

The oxygen cylinder was located in the kitchen as it exploded. 

English –translator/editor: Stepan Kocharyan