Hundreds of people were apparently injured in a fuel depot explosion in Nagorno-Karabakh. It is also said that there were deaths.
In the contested conflict region of Nagorno-Karabakh, in the South Caucasus, hundreds of victims were killed following the explosion of a fuel depot. The office of the human rights commissioner of the internationally unrecognized republic spoke late on Monday of at least 200 injuries and an unknown number of deaths not far from the regional capital, Stepanakert.
It was initially unclear what triggered the catastrophe in the Armenian-majority region, which was attacked and defeated by Azerbaijan last week. Large flames could be seen in photos on social media. Politician Metakse Akopjan said that at the time of the accident, many people were queuing to buy gasoline in the countryside because they wanted to escape from Azerbaijanis to Armenia in cars.
“Medical capabilities are not enough to save everyone”
The regional human rights office appealed to the international community: It is urgently necessary to transport people, especially seriously injured people, for treatment. “Nagorno-Karabakh’s medical capacity is not enough to save people’s lives,” said the statement on the X platform, formerly known as Twitter.
The humanitarian situation in Nagorno-Karabakh, which has long been contested between the two rival former Soviet republics of Armenia and Azerbaijan, is already catastrophic. Azerbaijanis have been blocking the only Armenian access road for months, which is why there are shortages of food, medicine and gasoline in the region.
Karabakh Armenians surrendered after one day
Last Tuesday, authoritarian Azerbaijan launched a military operation to conquer Nagorno-Karabakh. Just a day later, the defeated Armenians of Karabakh surrendered. According to Armenian sources, more than 200 people died during the brief fighting and more than 400 were injured. The tens of thousands of Armenian civilians in the region now fear being displaced or oppressed by Azerbaijan’s new rulers.