Massive warehouse explosion in Uzbek capital leaves one dead and scores injured

At least one person was killed and 162 people were injured in a massive warehouse explosion in the Uzbekistan capital Tashkent early on Thursday morning, health officials said.

The situation at the scene of the warehouse explosion in Tashkent, Uzbekistan is “under control” as emergency workers continue efforts to fully extinguish a fire caused by the explosion, the Uzbek Ministry of Emergencies said in an update.

A teenager, aged 16 or 17, died at the scene, according to the Health Ministry. The ministry also said 24 of the people injured were admitted to hospitals.

“From the first minutes, the leadership of the Ministry of Emergency Situations has been working at the scene of the incident, and the forces and resources of specialized organizations have been involved,” a Ministry of Emergencies statement read, adding that the fire was contained at 5:02 a.m. local time on Thursday (8:00 p.m. ET).

Several videos circulating on social media earlier on Thursday showed a huge column of fire and smoke billowing into the night sky.

The blast happened at a warehouse close to Tashkent’s airport, according to Reuters, citing local news site Daryo.

Russian state news agency Tass citing the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Uzbekistan said that a fire broke out in one of the warehouses in city’s Sergeli district after the facility was struck by lightning.

The warehouse was owned by Inter Logistics LLC, the ministry said, according to Tass.

Flights appeared to continue to depart and arrive from Tashkent’s international airport overnight and into Thursday morning local time, according to data from Flightradar24.

With nearly 3 million residents, Tashkent is the largest city in the Central Asian, former Soviet state.