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Syria arms depot explosion kills at least 14

The explosion struck near the Syrian city of Sarmada in Idlib province in the northwest. The Defense Ministry said the weapons and remnants from the war were being stored temporarily at the site before being relocated.

Syria arms depot explosion kills at least 14
authorities reported that at least 14 people were killed and another 11 wounded on Wednesday as a result of an explosion at a temporary site used to store weapons and remnants of the country's long-running civil war.

The explosion took place near the city of Sarmada in the northwestern Idlib province.

Emergency responders carry the body of a person who died following a massive explosion at an arms depot near Sarmada in Syria that led to the death and injury of several people
Emergency services and Red Cross workers rushed to locate and if possible rescue victims potentially trapped beneath the rubble Image: Moawia Atrash/dpa/picture alliance

What do we know about the explosion? 

Syria's Defense Ministry said the weapons and war remnants were being stored termporarily at the site before being transported elsewhere. It said that some of its personnel were among those wounded.

The explosion in an area full of volatile materials led to secondary explosions and fires that hampered the emergency response. Smoke billowed from the blast site for some time on Wednesday.

"The toll from the explosion in a temporary storage for collecting weapons and war remnants near the city of Sarmada ... registered 14 killed and 11 injured in a preliminary count," the Idlib health department said.

Smoke rises after a powerful explosion, the cause of which has not yet been determined, at a warehouse where war remnant munitions were being collected near the Sarmada district of Idlib province in northwestern Syria
Firefigthers battled to bring the primary and secondary fires under controlImage: Kasim Yusuf/Anadolu/picture alliance

Authorities have not yet said what caused the explosion.

It was the second fatal incident of its kind in Idlib province this month. On September 1, five people were killed and others were wounded when a vehicle carrying ammunition exploded in Binnish.

Syria only recently emerged from more than a decade of civil war, when forces loyal to new President Ahmed al-Sharaa ousted and took control of Damascus. Idlib was one of the hardest-hit regions in the country during the war.

Smoke rises after a powerful explosion, the cause of which has not yet been determined, at a warehouse where war remnant munitions were being collected near the Sarmada district of Idlib province in northwestern Syria
Idlib province is still awash with ordnance after fierce fighting from 2011 until late 2024Image: Kasim Yusuf/Anadolu/picture alliance

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Edited by: Dmytro Hubenko

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