‘Is the Police Only Good at Dispersing Protests? They Were 40 Minutes Late’ – Eyewitnesses from the ‘Malatia Mall’ Fire

Today, at 16:35, a large fire broke out in the storage area of the ‘Vega’ shop, located in the Malatia administrative district. Firefighting units from the Emergency Situations Ministry of Armenia’s rescue service were dispatched to the scene with a ‘Type 2’ alarm to fight the fire. Eyewitnesses reported from the scene: ‘What is going on? How can the police arrive 40 minutes later? The Emergency Situations Ministry sends two vehicles, and the water runs out? Are people just going to take the goods out to the street? There are even talks that the goods might have been stolen. Apparently, the police are only good at dispersing protests; they were absent for 40 minutes. We draw the conclusion that we cannot rely on the police in such situations.’