Two Karabakh refugees killed in Baku communal housing fire

A married couple died in a fire on the night of 6 March in a Baku communal housing fire.

Elsa and Surkhay Aliyev were refugees from the Nagorno-Karabаkh conflict. When the couple smelt smoke in the neighboring room, they ran into the corridor, lost consciousness and suffocated, Qafqazinfo reports.

All other inhabitants of the communal housing structure were evacuated. Twenty-two people were injured, five of whom were hospitalized.

А preliminary investigation ascertained that the fire was caused by faulty electrical wiring. The room where the blaze began was completely destroyed, but the rest of the building suffered little damage.

As a result of the conflict with Armenia, hundreds of thousands of Azerbaijanis from Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding areas have become refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs).

Once in Baku they settle where they can – frequently in dormitories and hostels, but sometimes in tent camps and empty trucks.

Although the state has in recent years constructed housing complexes for IDPs, thousands still live in poor housing conditions.

Last November, a similar case occurred in another building populated by IDPs. After the fire a total of 46 families were left homeless.