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Syria: Deadly air strike 'hits Damascus petrol station' | Syria: Deadly air strike 'hits Damascus petrol station' |
(35 minutes later) | |
Dozens of people have been killed by an air strike on a petrol station in the outskirts of the Syrian capital, Damascus, activists say. | Dozens of people have been killed by an air strike on a petrol station in the outskirts of the Syrian capital, Damascus, activists say. |
Damascus residents say they saw burning bodies and horrific scenes after the air strike in Mleiha district. | |
Unverified reports from activists suggested 70 people had been killed. | |
The UN's human rights chief said a new study suggested more than 60,000 had died since the start of the uprising, many more than activists have claimed. | |
Navi Pillay said in a statement that the number of casualties was "truly shocking". | |
Huge explosion | |
Activists posted video footage online purporting to show the latest air strike. | |
It featured charred bodies and burnt-out vehicles. | |
The reported death toll ranged from about 30 to 70. The figures could not be verified. | |
One activist told Reuters news agency that the warplane had attacked the petrol station as a consignment of fuel arrived. | |
The BBC's Lina Sinjab in Damascus says Mleiha is not an opposition stronghold, and civilians appear to have borne the brunt of the attack. | The BBC's Lina Sinjab in Damascus says Mleiha is not an opposition stronghold, and civilians appear to have borne the brunt of the attack. |
Many of the killed or injured are women and children, she says. | Many of the killed or injured are women and children, she says. |
Syria is in the grip of chronic fuel shortages, and motorists often wait for hours in queues at petrol stations. | Syria is in the grip of chronic fuel shortages, and motorists often wait for hours in queues at petrol stations. |
Activists told the Associated Press that a single missile had struck the station. | Activists told the Associated Press that a single missile had struck the station. |
The strike sparked a huge explosion that engulfed vehicles that had been waiting in line. | The strike sparked a huge explosion that engulfed vehicles that had been waiting in line. |
Ms Pillay said an "exhaustive" study of all deaths between 15 March 2011 and 30 November 2012 showed 59,648 had been killed between those dates. | |
"Given there has been no let-up in the conflict since the end of November, we can assume that more than 60,000 people have been killed by the beginning of 2013," she said. | |
Opposition groups had put the figure at 44,000. | |
The opposition figures include only civilians and opposition fighters. | |
It is not clear whether the UN figures also included military personnel. |