At least one dead and 51 injured in an explosion at a wholesale market in the Armenian capital

Aug. 14 () –

At least one person has died and 51 others have been injured in a huge explosion on Sunday at a fireworks warehouse inside a wholesale market in the Armenian capital, Yerevan.

The explosion occurred around 1:20 p.m. local time (two hours less in mainland Spain) and caused serious damage to the Surmalu market, according to the National Crisis Management Center in a statement collected by ArmenPress.

The deceased has been identified as a 40-year-old man, according to the latest balance from the Ministry of Emergency Situations, and among the injured there would be ten minors.

An explosion occurred in the “Surmalu” shopping center in #Yerevanthe Armenian Ministry of Emergency Situations reports.

According to preliminary information, there are victims. pic.twitter.com/ZAVcI6umqg

— NEXTA (@nexta_tv) August 14, 2022

At the scene there are now a dozen combat units of the Yerevan city fire squads with the help of the regional rescue departments of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications.

Shutdown tasks seem very difficult. “The operational situation is quite complicated, work is being done to extinguish the fire and rescue people,” added the director of the Rescue Service of the Armenian Ministry of Emergency Situations, Arsen Gasparyan, in statements to the Russian agency. TASS.

“Right now pyrotechnic detonations are still being heard, which complicates the work even more. I think it will take a long time to put out this fire,” he said.