The death toll from a fuel depot explosion in the recently seized Nagorno-Karabakh region has climbed to 170, according to Russian media citing local emergency services. The remains of 170 individuals have been discovered and transferred to the forensics bureau. These remains will be sent to Armenia for DNA identification.
The cause of the explosion, which occurred earlier this week, remains unknown. The incident took place as hundreds of thousands of ethnic Armenians have been fleeing the region since its seizure by Azerbaijan. Nagorno-Karabakh, internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, had been controlled by ethnic Armenians for three decades, with support from Armenia and Russia. During Azerbaijan’s recent military operation to retake the region, five Russian peacekeepers, along with many ethnic Armenians and Azerbaijani soldiers, lost their lives.