DAMASCUS: Twenty-one people were injured in traffic accidents and fires across Syria over the past 24 hours, Syrian Civil Defense teams said Sunday, extending a series of deadly and damaging incidents that killed at least 15 people and injured 180 others in reports issued during August.
Civil Defense teams responded to 96 incidents nationwide during the latest 24-hour period, including 23 traffic accidents that injured 20 people, the state-run SANA news agency reported.
Emergency crews provided first aid to the injured before taking them to hospitals, while teams cleared debris and secured the accident sites.
Firefighters also responded to 73 fires involving agricultural fields and crops, homes, shops, grass, trees and waste. One person was injured in the blazes, while several incidents caused material damage, SANA said.
The latest incidents followed another busy period for emergency responders earlier this month.
On Sept. 2, two people were killed and 38 others injured in traffic accidents and fires across several Syrian provinces over 24 hours, according to the Civil Defense.
Teams responded to 27 traffic accidents that killed two people and injured 34 others. They also dealt with 70 fires affecting homes, commercial premises, grass, trees, garbage and electrical wiring.
Four people — including one firefighter and three civilians — were injured in those fires.
The Sept. 2 report itself followed incidents reported two days earlier in which one person was killed and 16 others injured in accidents and fires across the country.
Deadly August
The latest figures come after a particularly heavy month of road accidents and fires reported by Syria's emergency services.
Across seven daily Civil Defense reports issued between Aug. 3 and Aug. 22 and reviewed by SANA, at least 15 people were killed and 180 others injured in traffic accidents and fires.
The incidents also kept emergency teams busy, with hundreds of fires reported during several of the 24-hour periods covered by the reports.
The deadliest of those periods came on Aug. 20, when five people were killed and 27 injured. Two people died and 26 were injured in 28 road accidents, while three others were killed in a separate traffic accident on al-Dimas Road in Damascus Countryside.
On Aug. 4, four people were killed and 20 injured after Civil Defense teams responded to 19 traffic accidents and 160 fires. Four of the deaths occurred in fires, which also injured two firefighters and four civilians.
Other reports recorded two deaths and 32 injuries on Aug. 3, two deaths and 30 injuries on Aug. 6, and 29 injuries on Aug. 13. A further 26 people were injured on Aug. 22.
The Civil Defense has repeatedly urged motorists to slow down, maintain their vehicles and avoid distractions, particularly mobile phone use.
It has also warned residents against lighting fires in forests and agricultural areas, discarding cigarette butts or glass containers near dry vegetation, and burning dry grass around homes and roadsides.
