Six killed in explosion at market in Armenian capital

At least six people have been killed and 16 remain missing in an explosion that occurred Sunday at a pyrotechnics warehouse inside a wholesale market in Armenia’s capital Yerevan, according to the balance sheet updated Monday by authorities.

Following the incident, 61 people were taken to hospitals and, of them, 21 remained hospitalized Monday morning, although their lives were apparently not in danger, Armenpress reports.

The explosion occurred on Sunday at around 13.20 local time (two hours less in mainland Spain) and caused severe damage to the Surmalu market, according to the National Crisis Management Center.

Firefighting and search operations are ongoing. 185 rescuers involved in search and firefighting operations, as well as about twenty water tankers, a dozen trucks, five tractors, three cranes and seven additional teams from the municipality have been working at the scene during the night.

The extinguishing tasks are looking very difficult. “The operational situation is quite complicated, we are working on extinguishing the fire and rescuing people,” Arsen Gasparyan, director of the Rescue Service of Armenia’s Emergency Situations Ministry, Arsen Gasparyan, told the Russian TASS news agency.