When a hillside collapsed on a stretch of highway near the village of Ayroum in northern Armenia, traffic and transportation came to a halt.

Large 18 wheelers were left precariously dangling from the roadside on the route that connects Alaverdi, in Armenia, to the Georgian border to the north.

A 200 meter stretch of highway has been put out of service.

An estimated 3,000 cubic meters of rock and rubble came crashing down, taking out several electric pylons as well.

The drivers of 3 Turkish trucks that had transported lemons to Yerevan and were on the return trip, told Hetq reporters about their narrow escape.

Heavy rains have hampered rescue teams sent to the area.

Scores of passenger vehicles and commercial trucks were on the road when the landslide occurred. Many are now buried in the debris and dirt that rained down from the hill above.

Eight individuals have been treated at the Alaverdi Medical Center with non-life threatening injuries.

A man with a broken leg was taken to the hospital in Noyemberyan.

RA Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan has ordered that an inter-departmental command center be set up to cope with the disaster.

Public Radio of Armenia reported today that the Ministry of Emergency Situation says that seven persons are missing.