At least 20 dead and several hundred injured when a fuel tank explodes in Nagorno Karabakh

At least 20 people have been killed and almost 300 injured in a powerful explosion at a fuel tank in the Nagorno-Karabakh region, inhabited by Armenians but belonging to Azerbaijan.

Local Armenian authorities have reported that 290 people have been hospitalized; dozens of them “remain in critical condition” after the explosion at the facility near the regional capital, Stepanakert (Jankendi for Azerbaijanis), last Monday afternoon. The cause of the explosion remains unknown, as reported by The Guardian.

When the explosion occurred, in the vicinity of the fuel depot there were a large number of cars with Karabakhs who wanted to leave the enclave after the military defeat last week against the Azeri army.

According to the Government, some 6,650 people who were displaced by the recent Azerbaijani military operation in Nagorno-Karabakh have arrived in Armenia since the evacuation began on Sunday.

The Armenian Prime Minister, Nikol Pashinián, assured that Yerevan is willing to welcome all Karabakhis who want to leave said territory.

The president of the United States, Joe Biden, offered humanitarian assistance to Pashinián this Monday in a telegram sent to him by Samantha Power, the head of the US Development Agency.