Armenia declares two-day mourning for mall blast victims

Yerevan, Aug 17 Armenia has declared Wednesday and Thursday as days of mourning for victims of a blast at a shopping mall outside capital Yerevan earlier this week.

The decision was published on the official website of the Armenian government, reports Xinhua news agency.

The death toll increased to 16 on Tuesday after rescue workers pulled out more bodies out of the rubble of the collapsed buildings.

According to authorities, a pregnant woman and a child were among the dead.

Three people remain unaccounted for and seven were still hospitalized, the authorities said, adding that a rescue operation was still underway.

An investigation has been launched to ascertain the cause of Sunday's blast.

Minister of Emergency Situations Armen Pambukhchyan on Monday denied the possibility that the blast was carried out by terrorists.

According to the latest investigations, the blast occurred when a warehouse where fireworks were stored blew up at the wholesale site, triggering an explosion of a gas pipeline.

The three-storey building collapsed.

The massive blast generated huge clouds of smoke and several buildings collapsed, triggering panic.

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