April 30, 2002 - 23:33 AMT
FOUR OUT OF SEVEN PEOPLE LOST BECAUSE OF EARTHQUAKE IN TBILISY ARMENIANS
Four out of seven people lost as a result of the earthquake in Georgia April 25 were Armenians. Head of the National service of seismic protection attached to the Armenian government Sergey Balasanian has reported this at the press conference today. According to him, the regions of Tbilisi where Armenians live were destroyed most by the earthquake. About 2500 buildings in Tbilisi were destroyed. It should be reminded the following day after the earthquake had struke, a delegation of Armenian seismologists led by Balasanian left for Tbilisi. The representatives of the ministries of public health, town planning, department for emergencies, vice mayor of Yerevan, aide of premier, governor of Lori region also left for Tbilisi to coordinate the aid for Tbilisi. Armenian experts inspected over a hundred of buildings for seismic risk. Five of these building were considered unfit for living. Now two officials of the National service of seismic protection of Armenia, who are recording and analyzing new earth tremors, are in Tbilisi.