An explosion of unknown cause on Monday at a commercial warehouse in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, left six dead and more than twenty injured, authorities said.
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A criminal investigation has been initiated for “violation of fire safety regulations,” the Attorney General and the Ministry of Emergency Situations said in a joint statement.
“The death toll from the warehouse fire rises to six,” the attorney general’s office said.
The authorities had previously announced that 24 people had been injured.
Images published by local media show a building with a gutted and partially destroyed roof and thick gray smoke billowing from it.
According to this video, rescuers are on duty in the middle of the ruins.
Last week, four newborns died in a fire at a maternity hospital in Baku.
In addition, an investigation was initiated for “violation of safety regulations,” which, according to initial information, was an electrical fire.
In April 2022, an explosion at a nightclub in the city left one dead and 37 injured.
The cause was a leak from a liquid gas tank stored at the facility.
Large fires often occur in the former USSR due to non-compliance with safety standards and outdated equipment.