DAMASCUS, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) -- Syria's Ministry of Defense on Saturday held a funeral for 11 of its personnel killed in an explosion at a military site in the eastern province of Deir al-Zour a day earlier, according to state media.
The funeral procession was held at the National Hospital in Deir al-Zour city for the 11 servicemen killed in Friday's explosion in the Ayash area west of the provincial capital.
The explosion occurred at a weapons storage facility, according to local authorities. Emergency, health, and security teams were dispatched to the area following the blast, while rescue teams searched for casualties and missing personnel.
The cause of the blast remains under investigation, with no official findings released yet.
The incident comes amid a series of explosions at ammunition and weapons storage facilities in Syria this month.
Earlier in September, an explosion at a temporary facility used to collect weapons and remnants of war near Sarmada in the northwestern province of Idlib killed 14 people, according to local health authorities.
Another explosion was reported at an ammunition storage site near al-Dumayr in the Damascus countryside this month, with no casualties reported.
Deir al-Zour province, which borders Iraq and is bisected by the Euphrates River, was a major battlefield during Syria's years of conflict and continues to face security challenges as well as risks posed by weapons and unexploded ordnance left from the war. ■
