The World - News from April 19, 1988
More than 80 people have been arrested in connection with ethnic rioting in Sumgait, in the Soviet republic of Azerbaijan, that killed 32 people in February, according to Deputy Interior Minister Nikolai I. Demidov. He told Soviet television that the rioters were led by “criminal elements” and that many of the Sumgait police “proved to be not up to the job in these extreme conditions.” But he denied reports from Armenians in the Sumgait area that Azerbaijanis broke into a maternity home and killed pregnant women. Demidov confirmed the official death toll of 32. Armenians, however, have said the toll was much higher.
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