YEREVAN -- Armenia is mourning the victims of the Surmalu market explosion in Yerevan that claimed at least sixteen lives on August 14, as rescue works continue to search for missing people.
The government has declared August 17 and 18 days of national mourning for the victims. The cause of the blast is still being investigated.
Deputy Emergency Situations Minister Artush Grigorian said on August 17 that workers were focusing all their efforts on finding any survivors under the debris.
Of the 16 bodies so far recovered, 15 have been identified. Two people are considered missing, but ministry officials believe that the unidentified person found dead might be one of them.
Emergency Situations Minister Armen Pambukhchian said earlier that he "almost" ruled out terrorism as a cause of the incident.
A blast and subsequent fire at Surmalu sent a towering cloud of smoke over the Armenian capital on August 14, videos shared on social media showed.
The explosion was in an area where fireworks and other pyrotechnics are stored.
