By Adonia Agayan

YEREVAN, August 9 — Twenty-eight rescuers representing the Ministry of Emergency Situations in Armenia are in Nizhny Novgorod to help cope with its worst wildfires.

According to Armenia’s Ministry of Emergency Situations, four fire fighting vehicles were sent to Nizhny Novgorod on two IL-76 military transport air-crafts.

The Armenian group is headed by Colonel Pavel Gezalyan, the Deputy Head of the Department of Rescue Forces of the Armenian Ministry of Emergency Situations.

“I spoke with my Russian colleague for a few times and they accepted our help. We will send 150 pumps. We made an agreement to send a vehicle with a carrying capacity of 3.5 tons. We have 19 such vehicles among which six can travel cross-country,” said Armen Yeritsyan, the Minister of Emergency Situations in Armenia last week.

At the sitting the government decided to allocate 24,600 million dram (about $67,000) to the Emergency Situations Ministry to support Russia for fighting the wildfires.

On August 6 the New York Times reported that 800 wildfires were still raging, leaving 52 people dead in their wake. An estimated 3,000 people have been left homeless.

In a phone call with the Russian President Dmitry Medvedev Armenian President Serge Sarkisian expressed solidarity and sympathy with the people of Russia on the large-scale natural disaster. Medvedev thanked President Sarkisian and appreciated Armenia’s readiness to render practical assistance in the struggle against fires in Russian regions.

Yerevan Report

Photo credit: AFP