Karabakh authorities said at least 20 people were killed and over 270 others seriously injured and hospitalized as a result of the explosion. They appealed for urgent medical aid from Armenia, saying that Stepanakert’s two main hospitals cannot to provide adequate care to all victims due to their limited capacity and lack of medication.
A team of Armenian doctors flew to Stepanakert early in the morning and evacuated the first injured Karabakh Armenians by helicopter hours later. They were transported to hospitals in Yerevan. Three more such flights were carried out in the following hours.
At least 14 patients were admitted to the Yerevan-based National Center for Burns and Dermatology in the afternoon. An ambulance driver there said more of them are on their way to the hospital.
“The team of doctors transported by helicopter from Armenia to Stepanakert with necessary medicines and medical supplies are currently in the medical institutions of the [Karabakh] republic and together with local doctors are providing the necessary medical assistance to all the victims,” read a statement released by Karabakh health authorities.
Early in the afternoon a convoy of Armenian ambulances escorted by representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) left Armenia for Karabakh through the Lachin corridor controlled by Azerbaijani forces. A senior Azerbaijani official said, meanwhile, that Baku is ready to open a “medical corridor” to Karabakh for the ICRC.
The precise cause of the blast remained unknown. An official in Stepanakert, Davit Babayan, told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service that the authorities there believe it was most probably an accident caused by “negligence.” He said they are hardly in a position to conduct an investigation given the ongoing exodus of Karabakh’s population to Armenia and Azerbaijan’s takeover of the region.
According to the Armenian government, the number of Karabakh residents who have fled to Armenia since Sunday surpassed 13,500 by Tuesday morning. The Lachin road connecting Karabakh to Armenia reportedly remained clogged by hundreds of vehicles carrying other Karabakh Armenians.