At least one person is reported dead and some 20 injured after a strong explosion hit a fireworks storage area at a large market in Armenia's capital on August 14, triggering a blaze.
The city mayor's office said there were an unknown number of people trapped under rubble. The blast and fire at the Surmalu market sent a towering cloud of smoke over Yerevan.
Your browser doesn’t support HTML5
Yerevan Market Ablaze As Fireworks Storage Explodes
Rescue workers were struggling to pull people out of the rubble, a spokesman for the Yerevan mayor's office told RFE/RL. The explosion was in an area where fireworks are stored, he added.
The Ministry of Emergency Situations said at least one person was killed and 20 others were injured.
The ministry earlier said firefighters were on the scene battling the blaze.
The market is about 2 kilometers south of the city center.
Video posted on social media showed black smoke rising from the Surmalu market, which is a sprawling complex where, among other things, fireworks and other pyrotechnics are sold.