Many people were injured in an explosion that occurred last night at a warehouse in Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan, according to the country’s authorities, who assured that the airport, located near the scene of the incident, was operating “normally”.

“There was an explosion and then a fire, which has not yet been extinguished,” said a representative of the Ministry of Emergency Situations, which attributed the explosion to lightning.

“Medical care is being provided to the injured,” the Ministry of Health announced on Telegram, without specifying their number. However, he added that there are no “serious injuries”.

On the part of the executive of the Tashkent hospital, he stated that “ten injured people, one of them in a serious condition” were treated there.

According to the Ministry of Health, the fire broke out in a company’s warehouse in the customs area of ​​the airport, which, as reported by the official Uzbek news agency UZa, is operating “normally”.

Videos posted on social media show a huge fireball lighting up the night sky.

The windows of many houses in the area were broken, while some have had damage inside. Ambulances continue to evacuate the injured, according to an AFP reporter at the scene.

Explosions could still be heard hours after the fire broke out as firefighters battled to put it out.

“I woke up at night, I thought there was an earthquake, then I saw the fire. My son was injured in the leg,” said Kutepov Mustafo, a 72-year-old pensioner who lives near the blast site and whose house was damaged.