Former Yerevan Police Chief Killed in Russia Explosion

MOSCOW — Former head of the Yerevan Police Department, Major-General Ashot Karapetyan has died in the wake of an explosion in Russia on Thursday.

The explosion ripped through a private brewery in the southern Russian town of Pyatigorsk in Stavropol region at around 7am, killing Karapetyan and his uncle, TASS reported, citing the Russian Emergencies Ministry.

The blast was followed by a fire, the ministry said in a statement.

49-year-old Karapetyan has worked in the police system since the 1990s, and served as the head of Yerevan city police department during the March 1, 2008, events. One year after the bloody post-election events, he was awarded the Medal for Excellent Public Order.

The Special Investigation Service informed that Karapetyan had the status of a witness in the March 1 criminal case. Seda Safaryan, a victim’s representative in the March 1 case, told Azatutyun radio that the deceased had participated in post-election events.