YEREVAN. Sept 26 (Interfax) - Nagorno-Karabakh has confirmed the death of 20 people as a result of a powerful explosion at a fuel depot near the Stepanakert-Askeran road on Monday.
"A total of 290 people with burns of varying degrees of gravity have been admitted to medical centers. Seven people have died in the hospital. The bodies of 13 people are yet to be unidentified. Dozens of people are in critical condition," Nagorno-Karabakh's Health Ministry said.
Many people have been listed as missing, as they "burned down and there were no information about them," it said.
The ombudsman of unrecognized Karabakh, for his part, said on social media that "the medical capabilities of Nagorno-Karabakh are insufficient to save people, and it is necessary to use air ambulances."
The press service for Armenia's Health Ministry said that "a team of doctors with all necessary medical equipment and medications is heading to Stepanakert aboard a helicopter to provide assistance to those injured in the explosion at the fuel depot near the Stepanakert-Askeran road."
Patients are being prepared for evacuation in Stepanakert's central hospital, it said.
A report published on Monday evening on Peacekeeper, the unofficial Telegram channel of the Russian peacekeepers in Karabakh, said that their medics were providing aid to Karabakh residents injured in the explosion, and those with the most severe injuries were being evacuated to a special-purpose medical detachment.