DAMASCUS: Four people were killed and 16 injured in a stampede in the landmark Umayyad Mosque in Damascus on Friday, the Syrian state news agency (SANA) said.
Five children suffered fractures, severe bruises and fainting, the civil defense said in a statement.
Authorities were trying to determine the causes of the incident and will hold those responsible accountable, Damascus Governor Maher Marwan told SANA.
A photographer who collaborates with AFP and was at the site of the stampede saw large crowds gathered near the mosque because free meals were being handed out.
A video obtained by the Associated Press also showed the huge crowd and people reaching for food packages being distributed.
Ghina, who was at the mosque to attend Friday prayers, said she saw “people carrying an elderly woman with blood dripping from her face,” adding that she appeared dead.
The Al-Watan newspaper said the stampede happened during the distribution of free meals by a social media personality.
A YouTuber called Chef Abu Omar, who has a restaurant in Istanbul, had earlier posted a video of preparations for the distribution of free meals at the Ummayyad Mosque.
Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani had visited the mosque in the morning.
“We are working to take urgent measures to ensure that such incidents are not repeated in public places in the future,” SANA quoted Marwan as saying.
Syria’s new rulers seized control of Damascus on Dec. 8, forcing President Bashar Assad to flee after more than 13 years of civil war and ending his family’s decades-long rule.
