Syria: 14 killed and at least three injured after explosion destroys bus in Damascus
A local TV station said two explosive devices went off as a bus was on the Hafez al Assad bridge and a third device has been defused by an army engineering unit.
Wednesday 20 October 2021 11:37, UK
At least 14 people have been killed after an explosion destroyed a bus in the Syrian capital of Damascus.
A local television station said two roadside explosive devices went off as the bus was on the Hafez al Assad bridge - and a third device has been defused by an army engineering unit.
At least three other people have been wounded, in what officials have called a "terrorist" blast, the TV channel reported.
Syrian state TV showed footage of the charred bus and said the blasts occurred during rush hour when people were heading to work and school.
In photos posted on the channel's Telegram account, rescue workers could be seen removing body parts from the cabin of the bus.
No one has claimed responsibility for the attack, which occurred at a main bus transfer point, where vehicles converge and head out to different neighbourhoods of the capital.
Damascus police commander Major General Hussein Jumaa told state TV: "It is a cowardly act" as he urged people to inform authorities about any suspicious object they see.
He added that a police force had cordoned off the area and made sure there were no more bombs.
Initially, 13 people were reported dead, but Maj Gen Jumaa said one of the wounded had died from his injuries.
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More than an hour after the blast occurred, workers cleared the scene of the explosion and the destroyed bus was removed.
The attack is the deadliest in Damascus in years, with such incidents being rare since government forces captured suburbs that were once held by insurgents.
President Bashar al Assad's forces now control much of the country after Russia and Iran helped him take back power.
Since the country's civil war began in March 2011, the United Nations says at least 350,000 people have been killed.
The war has also left more than half of the country's population displaced, including five million who are refugees abroad.
In August, Syria's state media said a short circuit triggered an explosion in the gas tank of a bus carrying soldiers, resulting in one being killed and three others being injured.
In 2017, an explosion hit a bus convoy carrying evacuees near the Syrian city of Aleppo.
At the time, the opposition rescue service claimed at least 100 people were killed.