By Gevorg Stamboltsian
One person was killed and more than a dozen others injured on Thursday in a serious traffic accident in central Yerevan which was apparently caused by a garbage truck. Eyewitnesses said the heavy vehicle laden with trash raced down a steep hillside street that connects with one of the city’s main thoroughfares, crashing into cars and a commuter minibus at the road intersection. It then bore down on a large group of people standing at a bus stop on the opposite side of Marshall Baghramian Avenue.
One of them, an elderly man identified as Boris Babloyan, died in hospital later on. The head of the Yerevan municipality’s health care department, Armen Soghoyan, told RFE/RL that twelve other people were also hospitalized and their lives were not at risk.
Police announced an immediate criminal inquiry into the accident, briefly blocking traffic on the busy street section. Officers at the scene spoke of a brake failure as the most likely cause of the crash. The truck, meanwhile, was left lying on its side with garbage strewn around it.