Activists on protest against mine explosions block road to Yerevan

After explosions at the "Sotk", the largest gold mine in Armenia, dust clouds pollute the water in the surrounding villages, local residents complain. Today, the locals have blocked the Yerevan-Vardenis road. The protestors demand to close the mine.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that the "Sotk" gold deposit is the largest one in Armenia. The "GeoProMining", a company with Russian capital, is involved in gold mining there.

About 200 residents of the Gegamasar village gathered for the protest action. Cars have accumulated on the road blocked by the protesters, the Armenian edition "Tert" reports. The local residents demand to stop operation of the mine, the "Sputnik-Armenia" reports.

The road has been blocked since 7:00 a.m., activist Sevak Khachatryan reports in the today's post on his Facebook page. "The clouds of dust [from the mine] <...> reach villages and towns and also pollute drinking water," wrote the activist as translated from the Armenian language by the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent. The photos posted by Sevak Khachatryan show dozens of people standing on the road with passenger cars and several buses behind them.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on August 18, 2020 at 03:32 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.