Five dead in Azerbaijan dock explosion

BAKU: Five people died after an explosion at a shipbuilding dock in Azerbaijan, the oil-rich Caspian Sea nation´s shipping company said Monday.

“A gas cylinder exploded during repair works at a floating dock belonging to the Azerbaijan Caspian Shipping Company” at 1300 GMT on Monday, the state-owned company, also known as CASPAR, said in a brief statement. “As a result, five employees of the shipbuilding plant suffocated from the gas,” it added, without specifying the type of gas.

It said two more people were “hospitalised with poisoning”, adding that rescuers and medical teams were dispatched to the scene. Azerbaijan, a major fossil fuel producer, will host the COP29 climate conference in November.