YEREVAN (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 28th April, 2022) One of the police cars escorting Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan was involved in a car accident that claimed the life of a pregnant woman, Prime Minister's Deputy Chief of Staff Taron Chakhoyan said on Wednesday.
The accident took place on Tuesday, when Pashinyan's motorcade was driving through Yerevan. On Wednesday, video footage of the fatal accident appeared on social media, showing that a police vehicle hit a pregnant woman, Sona Mnatsakanian, at the intersection of Leo and Paronyan streets. Several Armenian news outlets claimed that the car was part of Pashinyan's motorcade.
"At the time of the accident, the prime minister's car was about 100-150 meters (328-492 feet) away from the scene. The crash itself could not be seen from his vehicle. The prime minister's car drove past the scene of the accident a few seconds after the crash. At that point, the prime minister did not and could not know what exactly had happened. On seeing the woman lying there, prime minister ordered to call an ambulance and find out what had happened. The ambulance arrived within minutes," Chakhoyan wrote on his social network account.
Chakhoyan also said that Pashinyan learned that it was his escort car that had caused the accident only after arriving at the National Assembly (Armenian Parliament). The official also noted that the vehicle could not pull over to help the victim as this would have stopped the presidential motorcade, blocking road traffic and giving no room for the ambulance to arrive.
Deputy Chief of Staff also referred to standard international practices, which prescribe that motorcades escorting heads of state must not park in undesignated places, even in case of accidents.
According to Chakhoyan, the Prime Minister offered his condolences to the victim's parents and assured them that the accident will receive proper investigation.
