An Azerbaijani military convoy on Friday deliberately rammed into a civilian passenger vehicle causing it to veer off the road and crash into a ravine, said Artsakh Human Rights Defender Gegham Stepanyan.
“On May 5, around 1 p.m. (local time), a cargo vehicle traveling as part of an Azerbaijani convoy at the 24th kilometer of the Martakert-Drmbon road, entered the opposite lane and hit with its trailer a Renault Logan which is registered in Artsakh as a taxi cab, as a result of which the taxi cab crashed 12 meters into the right-side gorge,” said Stepanyan.
In addition to the driver of the car, there were two passengers. No injuries were reported, but the taxi cab was severely damaged.
Stepanyan said based on evidence collected by his office he can conclude that
“Upon observing that a collision would have occurred, the Azerbaijani truck could have stopped and avoided the collision, which caused the taxi to crash into the gorge,” Stepanyan said citing evidence collected by his office.
“After the collision, upon seeing that the taxi has crashed into the gorge, the Azerbaijani convoy did not stop and continued its course,” added Stepanyan who added that according to the passengers, as well as the driver himself, the driver of the taxi did everything possible to avoid the collision, but he did not have any opportunity to avoid a crash.
He added that Artsakh law enforcement agencies have launched a probe, “but at this moment the circumstances suggest that the Azerbaijani convoy deliberately rammed into the taxi cab with apparent intent to inflict harm.”
“Police are taking measures to determine the circumstances of the incident, the cause of the crash and the collision, and whether or not it could’ve been possible to prevent it and whether or not the collision was intentional or accidental,” the Artsakh prosecutor’s office said in a statement.
