Scores Hurt as Gas Balloons Explode at Armenia rally

About a concert set up by the Republican Party in the Armenian capital Yerevan last Friday into a nightmare after it was burned balloons filled with hydrogen gas, the center of the crowd, causing the burning of 140 people. And the relocation of "Chicago," an official in the emergency department as saying that hundreds of small balloons burst into flames, resulting in the burning of attendance and provoke a state of panic, two days before parliamentary elections. For its part, according to local media that the cigarette led to the explosion of balloons during the ceremony held by the ruling Republican Party in the Republic Square the center of Yerevan. She said a woman named Susan (30 years) as "I heard an explosion and saw flames rising high, the crowd rushed away from the scene, I saw a man burned in his face and a girl burning in the back."

And showed the video posted on YouTube the flames of fire rising amid a large crowd of attendees after the launch of a number of white balloons in the open Scores of people have been injured in the Armenian capital Yerevan after clusters of gas balloons exploded at a political rally. Crowds were attending a government campaign event in the city's central square ahead of parliamentary polls.

Health officials said some 144 people had been injured, with over 100 taken to hospital with burns, none of which are thought to be life-threatening. Officials blamed the explosions on a cigarette being lit near the balloons. Health ministry spokesperson Shushan Hananyan told the Novosti Armeniya news agency that some of the injured were hurt in the panic after the blast. There was chaos as people tried to escape the flames, the BBC's Damien McGuinness reports from neighbouring Georgia. Video on Armenian websites showed people screaming and running away, some of them with their clothes on fire.

"People rushed away from the square, and I saw a man with a burnt face and a girl whose back was on fire," one eyewitness told Reuters. However, so far most of the injuries appear to be light burns, our correspondent adds. Despite the incident, President Serge Sarkisian went on to address thousands of people at the rally. The balloons were decorated with the governing Republican Party's slogan "Let's believe in change".

Categories: Armenia (Country) , Armenian , Balloon (Literature Subject) , Book , Books , Fever , Gas (Phase Of Matter) , Live , Night , Rally , Saturday , Saturday Night , Snl