SARMADA, Syria (AP) — An explosion at a weapons warehouse in northwestern Syria killed at least 14 people and injured 11 others, state media reported Wednesday, citing the Health Ministry.

The cause of the blast near the town of Sarmada, in Idlib province, was not immediately clear. Such incidents are a relatively common occurrence in the country, which has been battered by over a decade of war.

The warehouse was used to store weapons and munitions left over from the country’s uprising and civil war from 2011 until 2024, the state-run SANA news agency said, citing the Defense Ministry, without providing further details.

Civil Defense and Syrian Red Crescent first-responders are continuing to search for survivors trapped under the rubble. A photographer for The Associated Press at the scene saw bodies being recovered.

Video footage widely circulated after the blast showed a large plume of black smoke, while the sounds of smaller explosions could be heard.

Warehouse explosion in northwestern Syria kills at least 14 | iNFOnews.ca — Firefighters work among rubble and burned-out vehicles at the site of an explosion at what Syria’s Defense Ministry said was a warehouse used for the temporary storage of weapons near Sarmada, in Idlib province, Syria, Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Omar Albam)

Ahmad Faour, a mechanic who works near the warehouse, said he and others first heard a small explosion and ran away before the large blast.

“A weapons warehouse should not be placed in a public area, in a village with people and shops,” he said, after looking through the damaged cars in his garage. “Those poor people who died were not guilty of anything.”