ArmenPress
Dec 27 2004
GAS LEAK RESULTS IN ANOTHER FATAL ACCIDENT
ASHTARAK, DECEMBER 27, ARMENPRESS: A 60 year-old man and his 56
year-old wife were asphyxiated by a natural gas leak in Ashtarak
town, the administrative center of Aragatsotn province Saturday,
emergency officials said today- the fourth such incident of gas
poisoning in Armenia this month.
Emergency officials said the accident was caused by the couple’s
failure to observe safety rules. They used a gas water heater while
their apartment does not have a waste-heat flue.
The return of widespread use of natural gas in Armenia has caused
a number of safety problems in recent years, officials say. The
country had almost no natural gas for about 11 years because of
supply problems. Last week, a family of five died in the town of
Etchmiadzin. Two days later, a gas leak killed two people in the town
of Gyumri, followed by another accident in the village of Brnakot, in
Syunik province, where a man, his wife and 7-year-old child were
asphyxiated by a natural gas leak.
Concerned with the growing number of fatal incidents caused by
natural gas leaks president Robert Kocharian instructed last week
relevant government agencies to combine efforts to prevent use of
poorly installed homemade gas heaters and illegal connection to
municipal gas pipes.