By Alexander Tagvoryan

YEREVAN, August 19–On Tuesday night, the plaster ceiling of one of the apartments in the newly-built district Mush-2 in Gyumri collapsed.

The residents of the apartment were not injured, but their property was terribly damaged.

“We were saved by a miracle,” says 64-year-old Angic Melikyan. “We survived the earthquake, our 18-year-old daughter remained under the earthquake… and now I’ve experienced the second earthquake! Is it possible to live in this apartment? I prefer to return to my little house rather than stay and live in this apartment.”

About a month ago, with a six-month delay, 1,056 newly built apartments were placed in operation. The reason for the delay of this government-funded construction performed by “Glendale Hills” was the fact that President Serge Sarkisian was really dissatisfied with the quality of the construction when he saw it last December and ordered to fix all construction-related defects.

Nevertheless, many residents that have moved from temporary structures to the new homes regularly report that the building isn’t earthquake resistant at all and the construction was carried out with many violations of established norms.

The representatives of “Glendale Hills” told the old couple not to make this incident public and said that it will cause panic among other residents. They also didn’t agree to give any comments, but promised to repair the apartment in a few days and to compensate the losses of the family.

Yerevan Report