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The explosion of the vehicle on a landmine in Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) occurred near the border close to the town of Martakert, leaving three people killed and two others injured earlier on Thursday morning, a presidential spokesman said.

Speaking to Panorama.am, David Babayan said all the victims of the deadly blast are Artsakh citizens and employees of the HALO Trust international organization conducting landmine clearance in Artsakh.

“At the moment everything possible is being done to save the lives of the wounded and to eliminate the threats to their lives,” he said.

According to Mr. Babayan, police officers and emergency employees are working on the scene.

Asked whether mine clearance has been conduced in the area before, he said such activities have been carried out for years.

“It is a kind of work when landmines can be cleared in one place but later it can be found out that there are some left in another place, since the landmine clearance maps have been destroyed by the adversary,” he said. “All the possible measures are now being taken to clear the minefields.”

The Artsakh official stresses every such case is a message that efforts towards peace and stability must continue to avoid similar accidents in the future. “The victims are our compatriots who have been clearing Artsakh from the war consequences for years,” he said.