Minister: Bagratashen border checkpoint to open soon, road already accessible

YEREVAN, 27 May. /ARKA/. The road leading to Bagratashen, an Armenian village with a major checkpoint on the border with Georgia, is now accessible as the water level dropped, Armenia’s Minister of Territorial Development and Infrastructure Gnel Sanosyan reported on Monday.

“The water level dropped, so the road is now open; clearance works continue,” he said.

The Armenian State Revenues Committee works together with Georgian officials to restart the operation of the customs checkpoint as most traffic now goes through overcrowded checkpoints in Armenia’s Gogavan and Bavra, he added.

Sanosyan also said that the dropping water level in the Debed River allowed the authorities to bring machinery to the settlements that had been cut off from the town of Akhtala following the collapse of two connecting bridges.

“[The workers] are now covering around 5 km of road with crushed stone to make it passable. We are also discussing the possibility of using helicopters to deliver food if that’s necessary. There are also works on the road connecting Shnogh and Akhtala,” Sanosyan revealed.

A total of 17 bridges collapsed in the flood, he said. “At least five or six of those are major bridges, and we’re going to need quite an effort to rebuild them,” Sanosyan noted.

The Minister also reported that the death toll of the flood reached four. “We have found the body of one of the missing people, so now the death toll stands at 4,” he said.

Heavy rains flooded Armenia’s northeastern provinces Lori and Tavush on 25 and 26 May, causing the Debed, Aghstev, and Tashir rivers to overflow their banks. As a result, portions of the railway and the freeway connecting Armenia with Georgia were destroyed. A total of 269 people were reported to have been evacuated from the flooded area.