#dead #dozens #injured #explosion #Armenian #market
An explosion that started a fire at a market in the Armenian capital Yerevan on Sunday killed three people and injured dozens more, officials said.
The fire swept through the Surmalu market, initial reports said.
“According to preliminary data, an explosion occurred that started a fire,” the Ministry of Emergency Situations said in a statement, leaving three dead and around 40 people hospitalized.
They also reported that a nearby building had collapsed and released the names of 25 people who tried to contact loved ones, saying they may be trapped under its ruins.
While the search for survivors continued, rescue workers used an excavator to clear away debris, an AFP journalist at the scene reported.
They have so far pulled 10 survivors from the rubble and recovered one body, the ministry statement said.
The wholesale market in Surmalu is usually very crowded on Sunday afternoon when the blast happened.
The cause of the fire has not yet been clarified, but local news reports, citing witnesses, that the explosion took place at a place where fireworks were stored. Authorities have not released any information about the cause of the fire.
Photos and videos posted to social media showed a thick column of black smoke hanging over the market and a series of detonations were heard.
– bomb alert –
A number of volunteers also helped at the scene, scrambling to their feet with their bare hands to move piles of twisted concrete blocks and metal poles.
Nearby, firefighters pointed their hoses at the smoking ruins and doused them with water.
A total of 200 firefighters and medical personnel as well as fire engines and construction site equipment were sent to the scene.
The disaster comes at a time when the country is already going through a difficult period.
Armenia, a small country of around three million people, is still recovering from the 2020 war with Azerbaijan that ended in a heavy defeat, which in turn sparked a political crisis.
Due to current tensions, Yerevan’s metro system was evacuated shortly after the blast following a bomb threat, officials said, adding that no equipment had been found.
Armenia’s neighbor Russia said through its embassy that it was trying to find out if any of its citizens were victims of the blast.
She offered her condolences to the families and loved ones of those killed in the disaster.
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