by Louise Manoogian Simone
Set off by a fire at the Abovian Military Depot about 18 kilometers from the center of Yerevan, hundreds of exploding missiles and rockets threatening the lives of residents, shot into the sky at 12:30 AM, April 9th.
Government officials, mobilizing quickly and efficiently, ordered trucks with bull horns through the streets alerting the residents to turn on their televisions for information.
TV newscasters urged everyone to evacuate immediately. Three hundred thousand people fled in the night, most with coats hastily thrown on over their pajamas and nightgowns, pushing children in strollers down the dark streets to designated shelters.
Sleeping through the night our first news of the emergency came when an unshaven and bedraggled lawyer from the Justice Department arrived at nine the next morning to deliver some papers. I must have had a strange look on my face because he immediately apologized, "Excuse the way I look. I couldn't go back to my apartment in Abovian. We had to sleep the night in a local movie theater."
At breakfast, Maestro Loris Tjeknavorian said he was awakened at 1AM by his manager who urged him to get out of the hotel. "I looked out the window and saw the flashing lights. But I thought, where am I supposed to go? Its cold outside. I went back to bed." A few hardy souls remained in their apartments, refusing to heed the warnings. One government official insisted to his hysterical wife, "I don't care if I am going to die. I'll die in my own bed."
Rumors, as usual, were circulating everywhere. "It's an attack by the Azeri's", "The Turks are bombing", "Baruyr Hayrikian's group must be protesting again!"
Mrs. Papken Ararktsian, wife of the Chairman of the Parliament, said she received a frantic call from relatives asking if they could spend the night with them. "Of course", she replied. Five minutes later they called back to say they had made other arrangements. "I think they decided if the Azeri's were attacking, our house would be the worst place to stay", she laughed.
Fortunately, there were few injuries, no deaths and only one robbery as tens of thousands of apartments were abandoned. With a number of buildings hit by the fallout, Armenian officials are looking into a possible lawsuit for damages against Russia. But the question remains, to whom does the military actually belong? The cause of the fire has not yet been determined.
