Fifteen soldiers were killed, and three others seriously injured, in a fire at an Armenian military unit’s barracks last night in the country’s Gegharkunik province.

The fifteen victims were army conscripts.

Armenian PM Nikol Pashinyan and Defense Minister Suren Papikyan said fire safety violations caused the blaze in the village of Azat.

Pashinyan, at a government cabinet session today, said an officer used gasoline to start a fire in a wood stove to heat the barracks, adding that the army’s leadership had banned the use of gasoline and other highly flammable liquids for such purposes.

“Basic compliance with this order would have prevented the accident,” Pashinyan said.

Papikyan said a dozen military officers have been fired following one of the worst non-combat accidents in the country’s military.

No arrests have yet been reported.