Soviets Report Several Deaths in Azerbaijani Strife
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MOSCOW — Ethnic riots between Azerbaijanis and Armenians in the city of Sumgait have claimed several lives, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said today.
The exact death toll and the nationalities of the victims in violence on Sunday were not immediately known, but several people also were injured, the spokesman added.
“There were several victims. Not many, but several,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Gennady I. Gerasimov said, adding that a criminal investigation is under way.
Sumgait, the Azerbaijani republic’s second city, is at the center of the latest outbreak of Soviet ethnic unrest.
Troops and armored cars enforced a curfew in Sumgait Monday and Tuesday nights after the rioting. Gerasimov said the city was quiet today but he did not know when the curfew would be lifted.
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