Initially, a Saudi-based news channel reported an explosion in Latakia, Syria, in the afternoon. According to a report by Al Ekhbariya, preliminary reports indicated that three people had been killed in an unknown explosion in the Al-Raml district.
Later, Syria TV, citing data from the Syrian Ministry of Health, reported that a blast in a residential building in the southern part of Latakia had killed at least four people and injured 14.
Social media platforms also featured reports of a possible aerial attack, with the explosion being heard across the coastal region. The blast occurred in an area known for its strategic significance, with historical ties to the Assad regime, near the Russian airbase in Hmeimim.
According to TASS, the explosion was caused by a non-exploded large-caliber shell detonating near a four-story building in the Al-Raml district, as reported by local rescue teams of the civil defense.
Latakia’s Governor, Mohammed Osman, did not rule out the possibility of the number of casualties and injured rising. “Rescue operations are ongoing” he told media representatives, adding that several people, including a child, had been freed from the building’s rubble.
The explosion took place in a Syria that has been destabilized by intense fighting. In a recent operation, special forces of the transitional government conducted a massacre against armed supporters of former President Bashar al-Assad in the provinces of Latakia, Tartus, Hama and Homs from March 6 to 10. The battles resulted in over 1,500 fatalities.