Former U.S. ambassador John M. Evans has said that it is “dismaying” that the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh remain hostage to a manmade disaster for two months now.

Since December 12, the sole road connecting Nagorno Karabakh to Armenia - the Lachin Corridor - has been blocked by self-described Azerbaijani environmentalists. Karabakh residents have reported food and fuel shortages, while hospital patients don't have access to essential medicines, with only a handful allowed transfer to facilities in Armenia proper.

“It Is heartening that the natural disaster in Turkey and Syria has inspired such a response, even from “unfriendly” neighbors, but dismaying that the Armenians of Karabakh remain hostage to a manmade disaster now in its 60th day,” Evans said on twitter Thursday, February 9.

The Guardian said Friday that the death toll has now passed 21,000, exceeding the 20,000 that the World Health Organization initially projected when the quake first hit. The number of deaths is expected to climb in the coming days.

Rescue efforts are continuing for a fifth day in freezing conditions. Officials and medics said on Thursday, February 9 that 17,674 people had died in Turkey and 3,377 in Syria, bringing the confirmed total to 21,051.