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Death toll in explosion in Syria's Latakia rises to 10 — Health Ministry

Earlier, four people were reported dead

BEIRUT, March 16 /TASS/. Ten people, including three women and two children, were killed in a powerful explosion in the south of the Syrian city of Latakia, and 14 were injured, the Arab Republic's Health Ministry reported.

Earlier, four people were reported dead.

"Rescue operations are ongoing, and it is possible that the number of victims and injured may increase," the ministry said in a statement. According to the Health Ministry, four children were among the injured.

Earlier rescuers from the local department of the Syrian Civil Defense Forces said the explosion near the residential building in the Raml neighborhood might have been caused by unexploded ordnance of a large caliber.

On March 6-10, the interim government’s security forces held an operation against gunmen linked to the former Syrian leader, Bashar Assad, in the governorates of Latakia, Tartus, Hama and Homs. More than 1,500 people were killed in clashes.

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