DAMASCUS, Jan. 3 (Xinhua) -- A car bomb tore through a gas station in the Syrian capital Damascus' district of Barzeh late Thursday, killing at least nine people, including children, and injuring 40 others, local media reported.
The blast targeted Qasioun gas station near the Hamish military hospital, the report said, adding that huge fire has been caused as fire fighters arrived at the scene and managed to extinguish the fire.
The killed were all civilians who were standing in queues waiting to fill their buckets and plastic containers with heating diesel, according to the pro-government al-Ekhbaria TV.
The TV footage showed scores of scattered plastic containers floating on pools of diesel and blood amid strewn rubble and twisted debris.
Fire workers also appeared removing charred and mingled bodies from the street, some of them just remains.
The report placed the initial death toll at nine, adding that huge material losses have been caused.
Blasts have become increasingly common in Syria at a time the United Nations said that more than 60,000 people had died in the 22-month Syrian conflict.
DAMASCUS, Jan. 3 (Xinhua) -- Syrian army chief of staff, Gen. Abdullah Ayoub, stressed Thursday the "conspiracy against Syria has fallen," amid ongoing violence in several Syrian cities, including the southern rim of the capital Damascus.
The "conspiracy against Syria has fallen thanks to the bravery of the Syrian army and the coherence of the Syrian people," Ayoub said during a tour to one Syrian battalion Thursday. Full story
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