- Leicester boss Van Nistelrooy aware of 'bigger picture' as Liverpool await
- Syria authorities say armed groups have agreed to disband
- Maresca expects Man City to be in title hunt as he downplays Chelsea's chancs
- Man Utd boss Amorim vows to stay on course despite Rashford row
- South Africa opt for all-pace attack against Pakistan
- Guardiola adamant Man City slump not all about Haaland
- Global stocks mostly higher in thin pre-Christmas trade
- Bethlehem marks sombre Christmas under shadow of war
- NASA probe makes closest ever pass by the Sun
- 11 killed in blast at Turkey explosives plant
- Indonesia considers parole for ex-terror chiefs: official
- Global stocks mostly rise in thin pre-Christmas trade
- Postecoglou says Spurs 'need to reinforce' in transfer window
- Le Pen says days of new French govt numbered
- Global stocks mostly rise after US tech rally
- Villa boss Emery set for 'very difficult' clash with Newcastle
- Investors swoop in to save German flying taxi startup
- How Finnish youth learn to spot disinformation
- South Korean opposition postpones decision to impeach acting president
- 12 killed in blast at Turkey explosives plant
- Panama leaders past and present reject Trump's threat of Canal takeover
- Hong Kong police issue fresh bounties for activists overseas
- Saving the mysterious African manatee at Cameroon hotspot
- India consider second spinner for Boxing Day Test
- London wall illuminates Covid's enduring pain at Christmas
- Poyet appointed manager at South Korea's Jeonbuk
- South Korea's opposition vows to impeach acting president
- The tsunami detection buoys safeguarding lives in Thailand
- Teen Konstas to open for Australia in Boxing Day India Test
- Asian stocks mostly up after US tech rally
- US panel could not reach consensus on US-Japan steel deal: Nippon
- The real-life violence that inspired South Korea's 'Squid Game'
- Blogs to Bluesky: social media shifts responses after 2004 tsunami
- Tennis power couple de Minaur and Boulter get engaged
- Supermaxi yachts eye record in gruelling Sydney-Hobart race
- Hawaii's Kilauea volcano erupts, spewing columns of lava
- The Glimpse Group Regains Compliance with NASDAQ
- Sokoman Minerals Completes Phase 1 Diamond Drilling Program Fleur de Lys Gold Project, NW Newfoundland
- Canadian Government Provides C$100 Million Financing LOI to Green Technology Metals in Support of Electric Royalties' Flagship Lithium Royalty Asset in Ontario
- Sendero Resources Announces First Tranche Closing of Its Non-Brokered Private Placement
- EVSX Completes Installation of Multi Chemistry Line
- InterContinental Hotels Group PLC Announces Transaction in Own Shares - December 24
- El Salvador Congress votes to end ban on metal mining
- Five things to know about Panama Canal, in Trump's sights
- NBA fines Minnesota guard Edwards $75,000 for outburst
- Haitians massacred for practicing voodoo were abducted, hacked to death: UN
- Inter beat Como to keep in touch with leaders Atalanta
- Mixed day for global stocks as market hopes for 'Santa Claus rally'
- Man Utd boss Amorim questions 'choices' of Rashford's entourage
- Trump's TikTok love raises stakes in battle over app's fate
RBGPF | -1.17% | 59.8 | $ | |
CMSC | -1.11% | 23.64 | $ | |
RIO | -0.11% | 59.165 | $ | |
AZN | -0.41% | 66.355 | $ | |
BTI | -0.03% | 36.21 | $ | |
GSK | -0.07% | 34.035 | $ | |
NGG | -0.55% | 58.695 | $ | |
SCS | 0.13% | 11.665 | $ | |
RYCEF | -0.28% | 7.25 | $ | |
BP | 0.09% | 28.775 | $ | |
BCC | 0.36% | 122.685 | $ | |
CMSD | -0.32% | 23.475 | $ | |
RELX | 0.31% | 45.733 | $ | |
VOD | 1.01% | 8.455 | $ | |
BCE | 0.57% | 22.97 | $ | |
JRI | 0.25% | 12.13 | $ |
Eleven killed as fire rips through Syria shopping mall
A fire in a shopping centre in the Syrian capital Damascus killed at least 11 people early Tuesday, the interior ministry said, in one of the deadliest blazes of recent years.
Many of those killed were security guards or other staff on duty overnight in the six-storey building, civil defence director Ahmad Abbas said.
The cause of the blaze was not immediately clear.
"Eleven people have died as a result of the fire in the La Mirada mall, and two people have been rescued," the interior ministry said.
The fire caused "extensive material damage", it added, ripping through stores that sold clothes, leather goods and cosmetics -- many of which were highly flammable.
"Investigations are underway to determine the cause of the blaze," the ministry statement said.
Fires in the Syrian capital are relatively frequent, some caused by electrical short-circuits, others by unsafe heating.
A 52-year-old witness, who asked to be identified only by his first name Hani, said the fire broke out at around 3:00 am (0100 GMT).
"The fire started on the top floor and started to spread quickly to other levels," he said.
Damascus police chief Hussein Jumaa said the cause of the blaze was likely "internal."
"The fire spread so fast that the people in the building couldn't save themselves," Jumaa told state television.
- 'My livelihood is gone' -
Twenty fire engines helped douse the blaze, civil defence chief Abbas said.
"It took around four hours for us to bring the fire under control," he said, adding that the victims died either of suffocation or of severe burns.
"They were all guards working at the mall, or workers on duty," Abbas added.
Ten of the 11 corpses recovered from the building were charred beyond recognition, the state SANA news agency reported.
It said seven people were wounded, including those who suffered smoke inhalation.
An AFP correspondent saw fire trucks stationed outside the charred facade of the shopping mall, where dozens of businesses had been destroyed.
"We have asked everyone to stay away from the area to facilitate civil defence operations," a fire department official told AFP on condition of anonymity, because he was not authorised to speak to the media.
Despite the security cordon, dozens flocked to the scene, including business owners eager to check on their shops.
One store owner collapsed when he saw the scale of the damage.
"My livelihood is gone... my money is gone," he wailed.
The fire comes a week after a blaze in a hospital in Syria's second city of Aleppo killed three people, sparked by an electrical short-circuit, according to SANA.
In September last year, a firefighter died and two civilians were injured in a blaze that destroyed a fabric warehouse in the Old City of Damascus.
P.M.Smith--AMWN