At least 125 people were killed when a fuel depot exploded in the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region, according to Armenia’s Health Minister Anahit Avanesian. The International Committee of the Red Cross says that several hundred people suffered burns as a result of the explosion. The number of victims has risen sharply since local authorities reported 20 dead on Tuesday morning. Azerbaijani firefighters are working to put out the fire.X/@azerbaycanfhn The separatist authorities in Nagorno-Karabakh said on Monday evening that the explosion took place on a road between the cities of Stepanakert and Askeran. The fuel depot is located next to a petrol station, along a winding mountain road which is said to have been frequently used by civilian Armenians who have fled the country in recent days. The area conquered by Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh is formally an area of Azerbaijan, but in practice an independent, not internationally recognized state under the influence of Armenia. In 2020, the countries entered into a ceasefire, but in September this year there have been new clashes. It led to the area, which has long been controlled by Armenian separatists, being captured by Azerbaijan last week. The separatists then laid down their weapons and are in the process of relinquishing power in the region. Around 20 percent of the population has fled On Tuesday evening, the Armenian authorities report that 28,120 people have entered Armenia from the region. In a 2015 census, Nagorno-Karabakh consisted of 145,053 people, of which 144,683 were Armenians, while 238 were Russians or of other nationalities. This means that close to 20 percent of the population has fled Nagorno-Karabakh in recent days. Ethnic Armenians from Nagorno-Karabakh walk along the road from Nagorno-Karabakh to Kornidzor in the Syunik region of Armenia, September 26, 2023. Photo: AP An AFP team that gained access to the refugees’ route to Armenia, on a trip organized by the Azerbaijani government, says most of the people who crossed the border were women with children and the elderly. The few Armenian men in their 20s and 30s who fled on Tuesday were forced to stare into a camera to be identified at the last Azerbaijani border post, according to AFP. – Azerbaijan intends to offer amnesty to Armenian fighters who laid down their arms in Karabakh, an Azerbaijani government source told AFP. – But those who committed war crimes during the Karabakh wars must be handed over to us, the source continued.
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