YEREVAN- (MaraviPost)- At least six people have died following fireworks storage explosion in Armenia’s capital in a popular market in Yerevan.
The country’s Emergencies Minister Armen Pambukhchyan confirmed the news of the tragedy in a statement.
The Armenian Ministry of Emergency reported that the fireworks warehouse at the market caught fire, causing the powerful explosion that ripped through the retail market in Surmalu.
The market, two kilometres south of the city centre, is popular with locals for its low prices and variety of goods.
Al Jazeera report indicated that other 18 people are still missing and it is believed that they could still be trapped in the wreckage of a building that was destroyed by the blast.
The cause of the explosion remains unknown and meanwhile, 350 firefighters and rescue workers have been deployed to the scene to pull dead and injured people from under slabs of concrete amid still-exploding fireworks.
The embassy of Russia, a neighbouring country of Armenia, has expressed its condolences to the families and loved ones of those who died in the explosion. The embassy also indicated it was seeking to establish whether Russians were among the victims.
The last major known fire incident was in 2017 when the massive fire erupted in a Soviet-era chemical plant in the Armenian capital on Aug. 28.
