Sunday, May 06, 2012

140 people injured when balloons explode at Armenian rally

More than 140 people were injured when gas-filled balloons exploded at a governing party campaign concert in the Armenian capital.



The Armenian emergencies ministry said that 144 people suffered burns when several promotional balloons exploded at a showpiece concert staged by President Serzh Sarkisian's Republican party in Yerevan's central Republic Square ahead of parliamentary polls later today.

"The balloons exploded and caught fire after people holding the bunches released them from their hands into the air," an eyewitness who asked to remain anonymous said.


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It was not immediately clear what caused the incident. "All the victims had either medium or light injuries. Now doctors are trying to revive them from shock," Health Minister Harutiun Kushkian said. The promotional balloons were decorated with the governing party's election slogan "Let's believe in change".

3 comments:

Unknown said...

What the hell were they filled with? Helium is inert.

Ratz said...

Was someone tired of blowing up balloons so filled them from a natural gas tap?

Anonymous said...

Hydrogen.