28 Kurdish civilians killed in a deadly gas explosion

[Anthea]

ARA News

On Sunday, at least 28 Kurdish civilians were reported dead in a deadly gas explosion at a clinic, local sources reported.

In Qamishli, eyewitnesses told ARA News that the explosion of a gas canister at the Maysaloun clinic in eastern Qamishli claimed lives of at least 28 civilians as well as the injury of dozens others.

“Most of the casualties were children,” said Ahmed Rasoul, a civil rights activist from Qamishli.

“The explosion took place when dozens of children were waiting for polio vaccines in the main hall of the Maysaloun’s clinic on Sunday afternoon,” Rasoul reported.

The casualties included children, women and several nurses who were preparing for a vaccination campaign for the city’s children.

A medical source in Qamishli National Hospital told ARA News that the fire spread to a nearby tank of fuel, “which contributed to the rise of death tolls”.

“We received the bodies of 28 victims, most of the corpses were deformed,” the source said, adding that at least 40 others were injured and transferred to several hospital in Qamishli city, including the National Hospital.

The medical source pointed out that the death toll may rise “as many of the injured are in critical condition”.

Amid the ongoing war in Syria, the northeastern city of Qamishli has enjoyed a relative calmness, which some sporadic clashes in its countryside between the Kurdish forces of the People’s Protection Units (YPG) and extremists of the Islamic State (IS/ISIS).

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