14 killed as explosion rocks Syria arms depot: authorities

An explosion at an arms depot in Syria’s northwestern Idlib province killed 14 people on Wednesday, the local health department said, without specifying the cause of the blast.

“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.

The Syrian defence ministry’s media department earlier told state television that several of the ministry’s personnel had been wounded in the incident.

Syrian media broadcast images showing large columns of smoke rising from the site of the blast, while rescuers rushed to the area.

The incident marks the second deadly blast in Idlib this month, after a car carrying ammunition exploded, killing five in the city of Binnish.