Fuel depot explosion kills 20 and injures 290 in Nagorno-Karabakh

A fuel storage facility exploded in the contested region of Nagorno-Karabakh in the South Caucasus on Monday evening, killing 20 people and injuring almost 300 others, Armenian news portal News.am reported on Tuesday.

The bodies of 13 people were recovered in the aftermath of the explosion, while another seven people later died from their injuries in hospital. Dozens of the 290 people injured in the explosion are in a critical condition, while many others remain unaccounted for.

A group of doctors flew from Armenia to Stepanakert on Tuesday morning to help treat the victims, News.am wrote.

The explosion occurred near Stepanakert, the capital of the breakaway region which is legally recognised as part of Azerbaijan, but whose majority Armenian population has long sought self-rule.

Local politician Metax Akopyan said that the depot had been offering petrol to people who were driving to Armenia. Nagorno-Karabakh’s commissioner for human rights Gegham Stepanyan said that medical evacuations were necessary to save the lives of many of the injured due to the limited medical facilities in the region.

The unrecognised authorities in Nagorno-Karabakh declared that a part of the region’s population would be evacuated to Armenia following last week’s military operation to bring the breakaway republic back under Baku’s control.