Damascus (Syria): Ordnance from Syria’s 13-year conflict exploded in the coastal city of Lattakia, collapsing a building and killing more than a dozen people, the Syrian Civil Defence said Sunday.
The paramedic group, known as the White Helmets, said it worked overnight, searching through debris and recovered 16 bodies, including five women and five children, and that 18 others were injured.
The group and residents said the explosion occurred in a metal scrap storage space on the ground floor of the four-story building.
The UN says unexploded ordnance has killed around 100 people in 13 years. Since Assad’s ouster, over 1,400 devices have been cleared. Recent violence in Lattakia saw
government forces crush an insurgency.