‘The explosion took my husband, and the Turks took my homeland’: Artsakh exodus #6

Angelika Sarkisova lost her father in the first Artsakh War. Three decades later, as a result of the war unleashed by Azerbaijan, a woman lost her homeland, and the explosion of a fuel depot claimed the life of her husband Mher Khusnunts.

“My father died in the first war. My mother raised us alone. We have known pain since childhood. But what happened now is the end,” Angelika said in an interview with Alpha News, telling the tragic story of her family.

“We packed all the things. Everything was ready. We only needed to gas up the car and move out. There was some gas in the car, but it wasn’t enough. My husband said that we will need at least 5 liters more to get to Goris,” Angelika said, recalling a call from a stranger who told her that her husband was injured during the explosion.

Mher was first taken to Khojaly Hospital. At first he was conscious; it was him who gave the stranger his wife’s number so that he would inform Angelika about what had happened.

“I was told that I should not go to Khojaly because the victims of the explosion will be transported to the Stepanakert hospital. My neighbor and I went there; her husband also went with Mher to get gas. We checked every ward. Some of the people were already dead, others were hard to recognize.

Then it turned out that Mher’s condition was so severe that he was left in Khojaly. The next day I went there, I saw Mher in the intensive care unit. I was not allowed to approach him. They said that he would be transported to Yerevan. In Armenia, he was alive for two days. His heart stopped twice, but he was brought back to life. The third time, his heart gave out.”