Syrian ammunition depot explodes in fourth such blast this month

ALEPPO, Syria, Sept 21 (Reuters) - A series of explosions tore through an army weapons depot in northern Syria early on Monday,the fourth such incident this month, wounding several people and sending villagers scattering.

The blast was the latest in a series of mysterious and often unexplained explosions at military storage sites across Syria.

Authorities offered no immediate explanation for the blasts near Al-Eis in the province of Aleppo, which were heard across nearby towns.

Four people were hurt, including one by falling shrapnel, the Emergency and Disaster Management Ministry said, according to the state news agency SANA.

Rescue workers had helped residents flee nearby homes as authorities closed roadsleading to the site, SANA reported.

"It was as if doomsday had come. It wasn't fear, it was terror ... A rocket is blind. You don't know where it will land," said Ahmed al-Ali, a resident of a nearby village, saying the sounds of blasts had lasted an hour.

Another resident, Sultan al-Hussein, said he fled to another village with his family and returned to find his doors and windows broken by the force of the explosions.

Emergency workers were trying to clear unexploded projectiles, the Emergency Ministry said.

There have been at least three other such incidents this month alone, including an explosion at a weapons depot inneighbouring Idlib province that killed14 people on September 9 and another in eastern Syria that killed 11 people last week.

In total, there have been at least 16 similar explosions at arms storage facilities since former President Bashar al-Assad was ousted in December 2024, according to a Reuters tally.

The causes have varied. Syrian authorities have blamed some on poor storage, fires or deteriorated ammunition, while the causes of several others have not been publicly established.

(Reporting by Kinda Makieh and Karam al-Masri; Writing by Feras Dalatey; Editing by Kevin Liffey)