Serena Williams’ husband Alexis Ohanian reacted to the deaths caused by an explosion at a market in Yerevan, the capital of Armenia. “Heartbreaking,” Alexis Ohanian commented on the news on Instagram. An independent Armenian media company published a short video of the explosion.
What caused the Yerevan explosion
According to Zartonk Media, “Three people killed and over 70 injured after a large explosion in Yerevan’s Surmalu market due to an underground fireworks warehouse causing the fire and explosion that destroyed the depot, reports Armenia’s Ministry of Emergency.
Among the victims are two women and one man. There is a 5-year-old child among the missing. Earlier today, a powerful explosion hit Yerevan’s Surmalu market, a sprawling wholesale and retail market just outside the city center.
Firefighters, doctors, and rescuers are at the scene, searching for survivors and helping the injured. Firefighters continued to fight the blaze late into the night. There are 27 people currently missing. Over 70 people are being treated for injuries, including children, at different hospitals and medical centers in Yerevan; 22 have already been discharged.
However, 20 people applied to the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Armenia and reported that they could not contact their relatives. The Yerevan mayor’s office said a three-story building had partially collapsed due to the explosion, subsequent detonations, and fire.
He said rescue operations were underway to pull people, who may have been trapped, out of the rubble Posts on social media showed a thick column of black smoke above the market, with successive detonations audible. Investigators say they will start looking into possible causes of the explosion and fire once conditions permit”.
“Fireworks, fireworks — everything shattered in one minute,” said one witness, as reported by Al Jazeera. “People could not get out of the stores”. “It’s been an utter shock”, said Maria Titizan, a Yerevan-based journalist, per Al Jazeera.
“This is the first time in my memory that such an explosion, such a tragedy has happened in the capital city
