ICRC teams visited many city centre and remote village communities in Karabakh after the huge exodus in the days after the escalation.
A small number of residents have stayed in their homes and are being supported with food, water, medicine and hygiene items. Some request help to reconnect with their loved ones, often successfully.
In other cases, there is no good news. But there is still much work to be done.
In one remote village, the ICRC had been told there may be an elderly lady living alone, requiring assistance.
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After finding the correct address, very sadly the team found the lady had passed away in her home.
They worked to confirm her identity, finding some key documents and taking photographs for later formal identification.
They placed her carefully in a body bag and arranged for an ambulance to take her to the local mortuary. ICRC staff accompanied her on this journey.
An ICRC team alongside local emergency workers carefully removes the body of a woman from her home.
“Its not something that anybody ever wants to find, but I think the whole team realised that in this case she died at home, with people looking for her, and the people who found her really cared,” said Dena Fisher, head of office for the ICRC in Karabakh.
“Its one of those moments that is both difficult but also somehow satisfying in a way that we could provide dignity to her and her family in those moments and we will do our best to try and ensure the family are able to bury her in the way they wish to.”
Source : Icrc
