Ordnance blast kills 16 and collapses building in Syria
The explosion occurred in a metal scrap storage space on the ground floor of a four-storey building in Latakia.
Ordnance from Syria’s 13-year conflict has exploded in the coastal city of Latakia, collapsing a building and killing more than a dozen people.
The paramedic group known as the White Helmets said it worked overnight into Sunday to search through debris and recovered 16 bodies, including five women and five children, and that 18 other people were injured.
The group and residents said the explosion occurred in a metal scrap storage space on the ground floor of a four-storey building.
The United Nations said in February that about 100 people have been killed from exploding ordnance during the last 13 years, adding that since the ousting of Bashar Assad in December, more than 1,400 unexploded devices across Syria have been safely disposed of and 138 minefields and contaminated areas identified in Idleb, Aleppo, Hama, Deir-ez-Zor and Latakia.
Latakia, a key port city, and Syria’s coastal province recently witnessed a surge in violence, after gunmen loyal to Assad ambushed a security patrol. While the government’s counter-offensive, alongside allied factions, crushed the insurgency, it led to widespread destruction and numerous cases of retaliatory attacks against members of the Alawite community, which the Assad family is part of.
The clashes and revenge killings led to the deaths of more than 1,000 people.
