The Expertise Center of the Justice Ministry of Armenia has not received requests for expert analysis of the gas-filled balloons that blew up injuring 154 people, director of the center George Tsaturyan said on Saturday, RIA Novosti reports.
The balloons exploded at an electoral meeting of the Republican Party of Armenia at Republic Square, organized for the parliamentary polls of May 6. 154 people, including 2 children, were injured. 76 of them are still being treated at hospitals.
Arsen Azizyan, head of the section for material studies of the Expertise Center, said that helium could not explode. Thus, the gas in balloons remains a mystery.
Nikolai Grigoryan, deputy head of the Rescue Service of the Ministry for Emergencies, said that the balloons were filled with helium. So they could have contained hydrogen or methane.
Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan said that the people responsible for the accident will be caught and punished.
Healthcare Minister Arutyun Kushkyan said that the people injured are in satisfactory condition. His press secretary Shushan Unanyan said that some of the people were injured in the panic caused by the accident.
