Blast hits pilgrim bus in Damascus, killing seven

BEIRUT — At least seven people were killed when a blast ripped through a bus carrying Lebanese Shiite pilgrims in the Syrian capital Damascus on Sunday, a monitoring group said.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said another 20 people were wounded in the explosion near the Souq Al Hamadiyeh neighbourhood of the city.

Syrian state media, which reported a toll of six dead and 19 wounded, said the blast was caused by an explosive device rather than a suicide bomber.

State news agency SANA said officials had found and defused a second bomb that had been placed inside the bus before it detonated.

Observatory Director Rami Abdel Rahman said the bus had a Lebanese licence plate and was carrying Shiite Muslim pilgrims visiting religious sites in Damascus.

Lebanese media reported that Lebanese nationals were among the dead and wounded, but there was no immediate official confirmation.

In Beirut, an official with the Lebanese group that organised the trip said all the passengers on the bus were Lebanese, but could not confirm a toll.

"They set out from Beirut at 5:30am (0330 GMT) this morning," Fadi Khaireddin told AFP, adding that the bus had space for 52 pilgrims, as well as the driver and trip administrator.

"The bus is usually full," he added, though he could not confirm how many people were on the trip this weekend.

He said the bus had made its first stop at the Sayyida Roqaya shrine and was heading to the revered Sayyida Zeinab shrine in southeast Damascus when the attack occurred.

Khaireddin said the group had been making regular trips throughout the Syrian conflict, with groups leaving each weekend for a day-long visit to shrines revered by Shiite Muslims across the border.

Syrian state television showed footage from the scene of the blast, with men in military uniforms picking through the wreckage of the bus.

Its front half was mostly blown off, leaving only the metal frame, and bags of belongings were strewn across the remaining seats.

The channel also showed images from inside a hospital where the wounded were being treated, including a woman whose black robes had been lifted up, revealing a bloodsoaked undershirt.

Parts of Damascus have remained relatively unscathed by the fighting raging across much of Syria since an uprising erupted in March 2011.

But rebels regularly fire rockets into the capital from rear bases in the surrounding countryside, and the city has also been hit by bombings.

Despite the conflict, the road from the Lebanese border to Damascus remains relatively safe, and Lebanese Shiite pilgrims have continued to visit religious sites in Syria.

More than 200,000 people have been killed in Syria since the conflict started, and around half of the country's population has been displaced.