Hypotheses for the Nairit explosion

03/10/2006 Armine AVETYAN

It’s still unclear as to what the reason was for the explosion of the water pipes of the “Nairit” factory.

It has already been a week since the explosion, however the corresponding bodies still haven’t given any explanation. Director of “Nairit” factory Karen Israelyan told us that only after the conclusion of the committee will there be an explanation. While the committee decides, there are more and more hypotheses. People think that it has to do with the gas stations, “Clean Metal” factory and other organizations using the same sewer.

People are getting more and more interested in the reasons for the explosion of the “Nairit” factory water circulation pipelines and the hypotheses continue to increase. But the number one reason remains the large amount of exhausted gas. Based on official data, the factory hasn’t been functioning for the past month, so there couldn’t have been a gas exhaust. But the residents living near the sewer claim that they could smell gas an hour before the explosion. They felt that smell periodically, but as time progressed, it became more and more peculiar. When the pipeline exploded, people thought that the sharp smell might have caused the outflow of gas. What is the meaning of this? Does this mean that “Nairit” was secretly functioning and keeping the money in a “secret” stash? Perhaps this is the reason why there is no quick information. Some people think that the mix of acetyl and poly-acetyl may have caused the gas explosion. That sewer had to be cleaned and taken care of, but it’s obvious that the new owners of the “Nairit” factory hadn’t done that throughout the past years. Ecological research had to be done on the sewer and the water. It appears that there hasn’t been such an investigation and that’s why the pipelines exploded. Hakob from Noragavit says that there was a time when the holes with the sewer pipelines were near the pipes installed with a 1 meter diameter and were 2-3 meters above ground level.

The next hypothesis is that “Clean Metal” factory is the one to blame for the explosion because its pipelines are tied to the pipelines of “Nairit”. However, factory owner Genik Karapetyan claimed that it was impossible to have a flow of dangerous substances.

Another hypothesis claims that the explosion is due to the storage rooms and pipelines below gas stations and the flow. Based on that, supposedly the gas flowed, filled the sewer and exploded. There used to be a liquid gas fill-up station 100 meters away from the Noragavit sewer, but the station didn’t have a storage room. The gas was transferred to the stations through tubes above ground. There couldn’t have been an underground explosion. Director of the “Multi Group” company Sedrak Arustamyan said that they don’t have a gas station in that area. “ArmRusGazard” told us that there no pipelines running in that area. So, it seems as though the gas version is out of the picture. In addition, the residents claim that the smell before and during the explosion was not similar to the smell of gas. The smell was coming from the sewer and it got stronger and stronger. One of the exploded sewer pipelines is located in the garden belonging to resident of Noragyugh Garegin Nahapetyan. At the time, they were warned not to build a home 10 meters away from the sewer, but they were allowed to plant trees in their garden. The Nahapetyans built their home 50-60 kilometers away from the sewer. But the explosion didn’t worry their friend who went ahead and built a store right there. The explosion not only destroyed the well nearby, but also the corner of the store. It’s a good thing that the construction workers weren’t there, otherwise who knows what might have happened in all that turmoil? The person building the store, who decided to remain anonymous, said that he’s making a complex building and will soon finish. He’s not that worried about such explosions and says that they happen once every 100 years. But “Nairit” and corresponding bodies aren’t even stopping the construction.

As a result of the explosion, one of the major water-pipelines exploded. Correspondents of “Nairit” and “Yerevan Water Supply” came and fixed the pipelines, but there is still some water flowing and the residents say that there will be an explosion once again. Six cars crashed during the explosion and director of “Nairit” said that the person who is considered to be guilty by the committee will be the one to pay for the consequences. Hakob told us that on that day, one of his wife’s relatives had come from Garni and had parked his car on the street. The pipelines exploded and all the rocks and haywire fell on his “VAZ 21” car. “Nairit” told Hakob’s wife’s relative that it would pay 300 dollars for the damage caused and they offered 1000 dollars to another driver for really damaging his car. It’s interesting: isn’t “Nairit” concerned about the fact that it may just be the one guilty of the explosion by doing something like this?