20 dead in explosion at Nagorno-Karabakh

Yerevan (Armenia), September 26

At least 20 people were killed and nearly 300 others injured by an explosion at a crowded gas station in Nagorno-Karabakh as thousands of people rushed to flee into Armenia, separatist authorities in the region said Tuesday.

More than 13,500 people — about 12% of the region’s population — have fled across the border since Azerbaijan’s swift military operation to fully reclaim the breakaway region after three decades of separatist rule, Armenia’s government said Tuesday morning.

The explosion took place as people lined up to fill their cars at a gas station outside the regional capital of Stepanakert late Monday. The separatist government’s health department said 13 bodies had been found and seven had died of injuries from the blast, the cause of which remains unclear.

It added that 290 people have been hospitalised and scores of them remain in grave condition. — AP