Syria revises bus blast toll to 14 injured, no dead

DAMASCUS

Syria on Aug. 7 revised its toll for a bus explosion in Jaramana, near the capital Damascus, to 14 wounded and no deaths, after previously saying two people had been killed.

On Aug. 6, a blast ripped through a minibus in the town, home to Christian and Druze communities, with state TV saying it was a bomb, citing an official source.

Jaramana has suffered several incidents of sectarian violence since the fall of longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad in 2024.

The Health Ministry initially reported two people killed and 13 wounded, but in the early hours of Aug. 7, Toufic Hasaba, an official at the ministry, told state TV that “the final toll reached 14 injuries,” with three people in a critical condition.

The Interior Ministry reported the same toll.

What were originally identified as human remains were brought to a hospital, but these were later determined to belong to injured victims.

The Interior Ministry said that “specialized units moved immediately after the explosion to secure the scene, collect evidence and pursue investigations to determine the circumstances of the crime, identify those responsible, and bring them to justice.”

Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani said in a post overnight on X that “targeting civilians and attempts to undermine security and stability will not deter Syrians from continuing on the path of recovery and state-building.”

He pledged that “state institutions will continue to fulfil their duty to protect citizens, pursue those responsible for these crimes and bring them to justice.”