- In the conflict region of Nagorno-Karabakh in the South Caucasus, there was an explosion at a fuel depot not far from the regional capital Stepanakert.
- According to various media reports, there were hundreds of victims.
- The cause of the explosion is still unclear.
Large flames can be seen in photos on social networks. Politician Metakse Akopjan said that at the time of the accident, many people were queuing for gasoline at the camp because they wanted to flee the Azerbaijanis to Armenia in cars. The office of the human rights commissioner of the internationally unrecognized republic spoke in the evening of at least 200 injuries and an unknown number of deaths.
The region’s human rights office appealed to the international community: It is urgently necessary to fly out people, especially seriously injured people, for treatment. “The medical capacities of Nagorno-Karabakh are not sufficient to save people’s lives,” said the message on the platform X (formerly Twitter).
The humanitarian situation in Nagorno-Karabakh, which has long been contested between the two hostile ex-Soviet republics of Armenia and Azerbaijan, is already catastrophic. Azerbaijanis have been blocking the only Armenian access road for months, which is why food, medicine and gasoline are in short supply in the region.
Last Tuesday, authoritarian Azerbaijan launched a military operation to conquer Nagorno-Karabakh. Just a day later, the defeated Karabakh Armenians surrendered. According to Armenian sources, more than 200 people died during the brief fighting and more than 400 others were injured. The tens of thousands of Armenian civilians in the region now fear being displaced or oppressed by the new Azerbaijani rulers.