Deadly explosion at a temporary weapons depot in Syria's Idlib province kills 14.

Syrian state television reported that the explosion occurred at Burj Elnumra village in the northern Idlib countryside, near Sarmada.
The state-media account said 11 people were wounded, rather than the 10 reported by other sources.
Walid Aslan, operations commander at Idlib’s Emergency and Disaster Management Directorate, said initial assessments indicated that the blast was caused by munitions and that teams were securing the site and addressing potential risks.
An Associated Press photographer at the scene saw bodies being recovered from the rubble, while video showed a large plume of black smoke rising after the blast.
An explosion at a temporary weapons depot near Sarmada in Syria's Idlib province killed at least 14 people and wounded 11 others, according to Syria's Health Ministry. The warehouse stored leftover weapons and munitions from Syria's civil war. Associated Press photographers at the scene documented bodies being recovered from the rubble as a large plume of black smoke rose into the air.
Local officials said initial assessments pointed to munitions as the cause, though the exact trigger remains unconfirmed. Civil Defense and Syrian Red Crescent teams searched through the debris and reported additional smaller explosions, raising concerns about remaining hazards at the site.
The explosion occurred at Burj Elnumra village in the northern Idlib countryside, near Sarmada, according to Syrian state television. The blast hit a storage facility holding weapons and ammunition left behind from Syria's 2011–2024 uprising and civil war. Video footage showed the massive scale of the destruction, with thick black smoke billowing from the site.
Walid Aslan, operations commander at Idlib's Emergency and Disaster Management Directorate, said initial assessments indicated that munitions caused the explosion. State media reported 11 people were wounded, though other sources cited 10 injuries. Teams worked to secure the site and address potential risks from additional smaller explosions detected nearby.
Civil Defense and Syrian Red Crescent teams immediately deployed to the blast site to search for survivors. Associated Press photographers documented the grim scene, capturing images of bodies being recovered from the rubble. Rescue operations focused on locating any remaining victims and preventing further incidents from unstable ammunition stockpiles.
The explosion highlights the ongoing dangers posed by weapons caches scattered across Syria following 13 years of civil war. Temporary storage facilities holding munitions from the conflict remain unstable and prone to incidents. The blast near Sarmada serves as a stark reminder of the hazards civilian populations continue to face in post-conflict zones.
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