Epress.am News from Armenia
On Mar. 1, 2008, at least nine people lost their lives in Austria, Germany and the Czech Republic as Hurricane Emma struck central Europe. In some areas, heavy rainfall caused flooding as well.
Across the countries hit by Emma, the damage was estimated to be worth tens of millions of euros.
In Austria, the death toll reached four, including two German tourists, with at least two of the people killed by trees blown down by high winds.
One of Germany’s high speed trains was taken out of action and several rail lines were closed as winds reached 190 kilometres an hour. Three people died in Germany.
In the Czech Republic, two people died — an 11-year-old girl who was crushed by a falling tree and a man, 80, who was hit by a piece of metal. Around 100,000 people were without electricity and transport was disrupted throughout the country. High waves hit the Belgian coast and across the country power cables and roofs were damaged by the storm.
In the early hours of the morning on Mar. 1, 2008, national police and military forces in Yerevan dispersed peaceful demonstrations that had been going on for 10 days non-stop in Liberty Square protesting the official results of the presidential election. Later that same day, people spontaneously gathered in the square in front of the Aleksandr Myasnikyan statue, across the street from Yerevan City Hall. In the evening, a state of emergency was declared and the army called in to quell the protests, who used “excessive force and violence” which resulted in the death of 10 people, including Hamlet Tadevosyan.
Till today, no arrests or charges have been made in connection with Tadevosyan’s murder.