A new outcome of the explosion of a missile of warfare in Lattakia: 16 people were killed, including 5 women and 5 children

The number of victims of an explosion in the city of Latakia in western Syria on Saturday rose to at least 16 people, according to a new toll reported by the Syrian Civil Defense on Sunday.

The Civil Defense referred to the “X” platform that “a woman was recovered from under the rubble of the destroyed residential building in the southern Raml neighborhood in the city of Latakia, at dawn today, Sunday, March 16, as a result of an explosion in a hallway shop under the building yesterday, Saturday, March 15 (…), which raises the death toll to 16 victims, including 5 women and 5 children.”

The Civil Defense also drew attention to “the injury of 18 civilians, including 6 children,” explaining that this is “an uncomfortable outcome, with searches and rescue operations and the extraction of those stranded under the rubble from the destructive residential building for more than 13 continuous hours.”

For its part, the official Syrian news agency “SANA” reported that “the cause of the explosion is the attempt of a person to dismantle the remnants of war inside the scrap shop in the building.”

According to the “Syrian Observatory for Human Rights”, the explosion “is an accident caused by a missile of war waste, which exploded during its dismantling by a person working in collecting scrap at his home.”

According to Jamoul, 32, from the residents of the neighborhood, “Agence France Presse”, reported that she heard the sound of a “loud explosion”. She said: “We went to the place, and we saw a completely destroyed building and around it a number of civil defense men and ambulances and a large number of people who gathered to clarify the stranded under the rubble.”

A picture published by “SANA” showed a cloud of white smoke from the place.

The explosive objects, including mines, are one of the thorny issues that seem to be tackled after years of a devastating conflict that killed more than half a million people, during which several parties followed the mine transplant strategy in various regions.

More than 188 children have been killed and wounded in Syria during the past three months, as a result of the explosion of mines and war waste, coinciding with the return of more than a million people to their areas, according to the “Sif The Children” organization (Save the Children) in March.

“Large parts of Syria are full of mines and the outbreaks of the explosive war after 13 years of conflict.”

The organization called on the new Syrian administration and international donors to accelerate the process of removing mines and unexploded ammunition.

A report issued by the NGO “Humanity and Integration” last month warned of the risks posed by the remaining irreversible munitions from the devastating conflict that erupted in 2011.

During the past month, more than eight civilians, including three children, were killed when unexploded munitions flared up in a house in northwestern Syria, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and Civil Defense.