Just nowShareSaveAdd as preferred on GoogleHugo Bachega,Middle East correspondentandAdam Goldsmith
ReutersFrench President Emmanuel Macron is safe after a number of people were injured in explosions reportedly near the hotel he was staying at in central Damascus, the Elysee Palace has said.
A security source told the BBC the blasts were caused by two explosive devices and that several people have been wounded. Syrian media said 18 people, including four police officers, were injured.
Macron is in the capital for talks with his Syrian counterpart Ahmed al-Sharaa at the presidential palace.
After travelling to Syria, Macron is set to head to Turkey for the Nato summit. The visit “continues as planned”, according to the Elysee Palace.
After reports of the explosion in the city, videos and images on social media showed plumes of smoke and flames rising from a vehicle near a hotel in the Syrian capital.
As those reports came in, Syrian state television said that al-Sharaa had welcomed Macron to the presidential palace.
BBC Verify has been analysing video footage of the blasts, which shows the explosions happened approximately 125m from the Four Seasons hotel, on the pavement of Shoukry al-Quowatly, a major thoroughfare running through the capital.
The French president did not hear any explosions while on his way to the meeting, his officials said.
ReutersUpon arriving in Syria on Monday evening, Macron became the first EU leader to visit the country since the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s 24-year rule.
At the start of July, a bomb blast at a crowded cafe in central Damascus killed at least nine people and injured 22 others, according to Syrian state media.
Additional reporting by Richard Irvine-Brown
About The Author
