For the Ministry of Emergency Situations malls and shopping centers are high-risk objects. The head of Armenian Ministry of Emergency Situations Armen Pambukhchyan stated this during online press conference answering the question whether additional inspections are held in such objects after the tragedy in Surmalu shopping center.
According to him, EMERCOM has plans in case of incidents under different scenarios. However, he left the other questions to be answered by the inspection authorities.
When asked about the fate of the Surmalu building, the minister said that the bearing poles are strong enough, but the walls "have moved away" from the pillars, so according to the Ministry of Emergency Situations, it is not expedient to further exploit the building and it should be dismantled.