Explosion Hits Iranian Bus in Syria, Damascus Says “No Terrorist Act” Behind Blast
An explosion ripped through a bus carrying Iranian pilgrims in Syria”s Sayyida Zainab neighborhood on Thursday and Syrian Interior Minister Saeed Mohammad Sammour ruled out a terrorist attack.
It was also not immediately clear exactly how many people died in the blast which occurred Thursday morning.
In a statement to state-run Syrian TV, Sammour said three people were killed in the explosion near a bus parked at a gas station in a Damascus suburb.
He said the bus driver and two gas station workers were killed when a tire they were pumping air into exploded.
There were conflicting reports on the number of casualties. While Al-Jazeera TV said six passengers were killed, Iranian state-run Press TV said as many as 12 people may have been killed.
The explosion coincided with a visit to Damascus by the head of Iranian National Security Council Saeed Jalili.