BLAST KILLS DOZENS, CAUSE UNKNOWN
BEIRUT An explosion in northern Syria killed at least 36 people Sunday and wounded many others, but the cause of the blast wasn’t immediately known, opposition activists said.
The opposition-run Syrian Civil Defence, first responders also known as the White Helmets, said the blast occurred in the village of Sarmada near the Turkish border. The explosion collapsed two five-storey buildings, burying many of the victims, it said.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights put the death toll at 39, including 21 women and children. An opposition media collective said the dead included civilians as well as members of the alQaida-linked Levant Liberation Committee.
The Observatory said an arms depot in the basement of a building had detonated.