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Fire Leaves 17 Homeless in Armenian Town of Vanadzor

By Gayaneh Sargsyan

A fire that swept through a neighborhood of wooden cabins in the northern Armenian town of Vanadzor early this morning left 17 residents on the street, with just the clothes on their back and little more.

The fire destroyed five cabins before being extinguished.

Siroun Tzatouryan, who lives with her son’s family, said she was in the kitchen at 9:30 this morning when a neighbor sounded the alarm.

“I gathered my grandchildren, all three, and wrapped them up, taking them outside. Everything was destroyed. I couldn’t save anything,” said Tzatouryan.

Residents say the fire was set by a neighbor with psychological problems. The neighbor is said to have attempted to set her cabin alight several times.

“We always put out the fires. We always waited for her to try again and she did,” said Tzatouryan.

Residents claim they have informed the authorities about the danger numerous times.

“We contacted the municipality. They told us to inform the police. The woman would roam around the street brandishing a knife. The children were afraid to go outside,” said resident Svetlana Tamazyan.

The municipality doesn’t deny it was aware of the problem.

“Sure, we knew she was mentally sick. We sent her to the psychiatric ward once. Residents now tell me she returned,” said Vlasik Andreasyan, a senior staffer at the municipality’s public services department.

Svetlana Tamazyan’s family suffered the worst of the damage. She was only able to save her seven-day old grandchild’s crib.

“We have nothing. My daughter-in-law’s dowry, all our possessions remained inside, from our winter provisions to personal documents,” Tamazyan said, adding that the family still owes payments on the items purchased on credit.

Sousanna Kirakosyan has lived in the neighborhood since 1991 with her husband and two daughters. While their cabin was relatively untouched by the blaze, their possessions were damaged and are now unusable.

“We were living in difficult conditions. We brought out half of the stuff, but it’s all broken,” said Kirakosyan.

The Vanadzor municipality has promised to provide temporary shelter for those left homeless. But the families still need clothes and food.

This is the third time that cabins in the area have burnt. The first two times, blazes ravaged a part of the town called the electricians’ district.

 

Comments (1)

Anna
First of all the city hall of Vanadzor has a duty to take care and to protect all its inhabitants. Please write in the coming days how the situation of those left homeless will be resolved.

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