Armenian News - Balloons Explode

SCORES HURT AS BALLOONS EXPLODE AT ARMENIA RALLY

BBC

4 May 2012

People were gathered in Yerevan's central square for a political

rally ahead of polls on Sunday

Scores of people have been injured in the Armenian capital Yerevan

after clusters of gas balloons exploded at a political rally.

Crowds were attending a government campaign event in the city's

central square ahead of parliamentary polls.

The emergencies ministry said some 144 people had been taken to

hospital with burns, none of them life-threatening.

Initial reports blamed the explosions on a smoker lighting a cigarette

near the balloons.

Health ministry spokesperson Shushan Hananyan told the Novosti Armeniya

news agency that some of the injured were hurt in the panic after

the blast.

Video on Armenian websites showed people screaming and running away,

some of them with their clothes on fire.

Despite the incident, President Serge Sarkisian went on to address

thousands of people at the rally.

The balloons were decorated with the governing Republican Party's

slogan "let's believe in change".

azatutyun

SCORES INJURED AS BALLOON BLASTS SPARK CHAOS AT ARMENIAN ELECTION RALLY

04.05.2012

Armenia - Gas-baloons blow up during Republican party's pre-eleciton

rally in Yerevan's Republic square, Yerevan, 0 4May 2012 Ruzanna

Stepanian, Hovannes Shoghikian

At least 144 people were hospitalized with burns after mass explosions

of campaign balloons during a pre-election concert and rally held

in Yerevan's main square by President Serzh Sarkisian's Republican

Party of Armenia (HHK) late on Friday.

Eyewitnesses, including an RFE/RL cameraman, Sevak Grigorian, said

hundreds of gas-filled balloons held up by young HHK activists at

Republic Square exploded, sparking a massive firewall and injuring

dozens of them. Grigorian described cries in the crowd and chaotic

scenes resulting in a brief stampede that nearly caused him to lose

his camera.

"It was a huge blaze," said one woman at the scene.

Armenia - Gas-baloons blow up during Republican party's pre-election

rally in Yerevan's Republic square, Yerevan, 04May2012xArmenia -

Gas-baloons blow up during Republican party's pre-election rally in

Yerevan's Republic square, Yerevan, 04May2012 â~@~Kâ~@~KAbout two

dozen ambulances were rushed to the scene shortly after the blasts. An

ambulance doctor told RFE/RL's Armenian service (Azatutyun.am) that

some 50 mostly young people required hospitalization.

Citing "preliminary data," the Armenian Ministry of Emergency

Situations put the total number of injured and hospitalized people

at 144. In a written statement, the ministry said they are receiving

urgent treatment at eight Yerevan hospitals.

â~@~Kâ~@~KAn RFE/RL correspondent saw many of them outside a Yerevan

hospital specializing in treatment of burns. Prime Minister Tigran

Sarkisian visited the hospital later in the evening. He spoke of only

about 50 persons injured in the blasts.

"These are mostly light burns," the premier told RFE/RL's Armenian

service outside the hospital. "Some of the victims have already

received first assistance and gone home."

The Armenian police were quick to launch an investigation. The chief

of Yerevan's police department, General Nerses Nazarian, suggested

that the explosions were most probably triggered by a cigarette or

a lighter. Speaking to RFE/RL's Armenian service, Nazarian all but

ruled out the possibility of deliberate arson. "It was apparently an

accident," he said.

Armenia - Gas-baloons blow up during Republican party's

pre-eleciton rally in Yerevan's Republic square, Yerevan,

04May2012xArmenia - Gas-baloons blow up during Republican party's

pre-eleciton rally in Yerevan's Republic square, Yerevan, 04May2012

â~@~Kâ~@~Kâ~@~Kâ~@~KDespite the chaos and mass injuries, the HHK

campaign event was interrupted by only several minutes, with the show

moderator downplaying the accident and urging thousands of people

standing in the sprawling square to stay on.

President Sarkisian addressed the crowd shortly afterwards. He did

not mention the unprecedented emergency in his speech. The concert

continued after the speech.