Missile strikes residences in Azerbaijan's second city
A missile strike leveled several residential homes in Azerbaijan's second city of Ganja on Saturday, with one resident telling AFP he saw seven victims pulled out of the rubble.
The strike, which came only hours following the Nagorno-Karabakh capital Stepanakert underwent a shelling attack, marked a fresh increase in the deadly conflict between ethnic Armenians and Azerbaijanis over the separatist region.
An AFP team saw a square block of buildings considered rubble in Ganja.
Dozens of rescuers sought out survivors with their bare hands at night.
The missile struck around 3 am (2100 GMT Saturday).
The rescuers needed silence so that they could detect sounds of survivors, and pulled out passports, unopened delivery packages, and components of clothing from the debris.
One resident said the residential block was home to more than 20 people.
Another said he saw a tiny child, two women and four men pulled from the rubble, although their state had not been immediately clear.
"One woman was missing her feet. Another person was missing an arm at the elbow," said Elmir Shirinzaday, 26.
An AFP team in the close by city of Mingecevir, an hour's drive north of Ganja, heard the impact of a huge blast that shook buildings there at around once.
Mingecevir is protected by a missile defense system because it houses a strategic dam, and it had been not immediately clear if the missiles were destroyed in the air or had made an impact. - AFP
