A strong explosion at a fireworks storage area tore through a popular market in Armenia's capital, setting off a large fire and killing at least one person. https://t.co/Xg7vI7MROwpic.twitter.com/XFWXbxuDMX
— ABC News (@ABC) August 14, 2022
Blasts ripped through a fireworks warehouse in a shopping mall in the Armenian capital of Yerevan on Sunday, Russian news agencies reported, killing two people and injuring 60.
Video footage showed thick grey smoke rising above a building, followed by an explosion that sent people running from the scene.
People were trying to clear rubble and debris from a building that suffered extensive damage as clouds of dust and smoke hung in the air. Other bystanders were helping victims.
Firefighters extinguish flames as smoke rises from Surmalu market about two kilometers (1.2 miles) south of the center of Yerevan, Armenia. Vahram Baghdasaryan/Photolure via AP
The explosion left 60 people injured. Alexander Patrin/TASS via ZUMA Press
People help firefighters to extinguish a fire after blasts ripped through a fireworks warehouse in a shopping mall in Yerevan, Armenia. Vahram Baghdasaryan/Photolure via REUTERSArmenia’s health ministry said that the number of people injured had reached 60, of whom 22 had already been discharged. Two people died, the ministry said on Telegram.
Firefighters were struggling to contain the blaze as fireworks continued detonating, complicating the search and rescue operation, TASS cited the head of the ministry’s rescue service as saying.
It was not immediately clear what caused the fireworks to detonate.
