Hambardzum Vardumyan has worked for the Ministry of Emergency Situations for 27 years, the commander of the 16th detachment of the CFCSPRO told NEWS.am that the incident with the explosion in the Surmalu shopping center has its own peculiarities.

"We have participated in earthquake cases in Persia and Turkey, as well as in the bombing of the Mother and Child House in Jermuk, Armenia, but this bombing case is different because they were mainly the result of an earthquake, and the difficulty of it is that it was combined with a fire … that is, the foci were hot and it was difficult to work in hot spots," Hambardzum Vardumyan said.

As a result of the tragic explosion 16 citizens were killed, another citizen rescuers are looking for, Hambardzum Vardumyan says that the area where they are looking for him is quite difficult.

"There are big structures going on now, they are being removed, we are trying to go through the pieces and look at them all. So the work has gotten more complicated, but we'll be here until the work is done."

He notes that the entire building is dangerous. "We're conducting searches with the proper equipment, protecting each other and trying to keep the danger to a minimum."

The commander of the 16th CFCSPRO unit praises the work of the canine dogs. "The dogs always worked well because they quickly decide where to look for victims. The bodies were found in one area. The obstacle for the dogs was the smoke, high temperatures and fire."