Armenia, Europe Brief News – At least six persons were killed, 18 remain missing and more than 60 others injured in a fireworks storage explosion in Armenia’s capital.
Rescue operations are continued through the rubble looking for survivors.
Video footage from the Surmalu market on Sunday showed grey smoke billowing over a building and people scurrying away from the area.
Some 70 rescue workers were searching the rubble for survivors, a statement by the civil defence authority said on Monday, after firefighters had largely extinguished the blaze following the explosion on Sunday.
Bystanders helped victims move to safe areas.
“Fireworks, fireworks – everything shattered in one minute,” said one witness. “People could not get out of the stores.”
The emergency situations ministry said in a statement that preliminary information indicated that two large explosions had brought down part of a building housing fireworks, which set off a fire.
But it did not say what had detonated the fireworks.
There was no immediate word on what caused the fireworks to ignite, but officials ruled out a ‘terror’ attack.
Minister of Emergency Situations Armen Pambukhchyan, quoted by the Sputnik Armenia news agency, said the fire had been extinguished, but strong winds still posed a threat.
