Azerbaijan is working to provide the International Committee of the Red Cross with access to a road connecting the Armenian towns of Goris and Kapan to Stepanakert, Nagorno-Karabakh’s capital, adviser to the Azerbaijani president Hikmet Hajiyev said on Tuesday, September 26.

Hajivev’s announcement came as doctors in Karabakh are struggling to save hundreds of burn victims after a fuel depot exploded near Stepanakert killing at least 20 people.

According to the Azerbaijani official, the road, part of which which used to be under Armenia’s control prior to the Second Karabakh War, will be used exclusively for for medical evacuations and aid delivery.

The first helicopter transporting patients injured in the blast landed in the Armenian town of Sisian on September 26 morning.

The explosion happened as residents were lining up to get fuel for their cars in order to leave the region.

On September 19, Azerbaijan launched a military offensive against Nagorno-Karabakh, which left hundreds of Armenians killed and thousands of others displaced. On September 20, the authorities of Nagorno-Karabakh agreed to a ceasefire on Azerbaijan’s terms, including the dissolution of the Defense Army. So far, 13,550 displaced residents have already fled Nagorno-Karabakh and reached Armenia.

https://twitter.com/HikmetHajiyev/status/1706580835392962852?fbclid=IwAR0N8gegNTiWb2IrFW82W6PLvoltTXS28l4A2nQZlveIsOJ-G1Kc5uiyw24