Mountain homes in northern Syria collapsed early Wednesday after caves beneath them gave way, killing 31 people and injuring 22, the official Syrian Arab News Agency reported.
The houses had collapsed in al-Sawdah Hill in a neighborhood of Aleppo, some 270 kms north of Damascus. Syria's Interior Minister General (res.) Ali Hamoud, who provided the casualty figures, stated rescue workers were giving the injured with medicine, food and shelter.
The houses fell about 4 a.m. when old caves underneath them collapsed, Aleppo Governor Osama Adi conveyed.
The collapsed houses were built in the late 1950s, according to Bassam Beiruti, chief of Aleppo's Municipality Council. Some residents did not know that their houses stood on caves.
Wednesday's tragedy follows another disaster that killed more than 20 people. On June 4, the Zeyzoun dam in northern Syria collapsed and killed 22 people and flooded several villages in the area.(Albawaba.com)
© 2002 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
