(Zaman Al Wasl- AFP)- Activists have accused Iran of standing behind the fire that broke out in the Asruniyeh market of the Old City of Damascus, a UNESCO world heritage site.
The market is adjacent to the famed Al-Hamidiyeh bazaar in one of the world's oldest cities.
"It began at 06:00 am in one shop in the center of the neighborhood and then spread to other shops," a senior civil defense member in the market told AFP.
Identical accounts said shopkeepers were informed to evacuate their shops before by government amid Iran's pressure to control areas surrounding two Shiite shrines of Sayyida Ruqayya and Imam Al-Hussein, son Ali ibn Abi Talib, and Prophet Muhammad's grandson, near and in the Umayyad Mosque.
Activists said the fire is totally deliberate.
Speaking to the official SANA news agency, the capital's civil defense chief General Jihad Mousa blamed an electrical fault.
An AFP correspondent said at least 50 store fronts and warehouses were damaged.
Syria's economy has already been devastated by the five-year war, with its foreign reserves depleted and inflation soaring.
"Our livelihood has gone," said one shopkeeper after Saturday's blaze, his head in his hands. "This shop used to feed ten people who worked for me."
An AFP correspondent said the owner of the shop where the fire started was taken to hospital with severe burns to his head and hand.
Firefighters tried to douse the flames from within the souk's alleyways and from rooftops.
Toy shop owner Mohammad Ashqar said he had restocked his store just two days before the fire.
"I haven't been able to go in yet to check on the shop," he said.
The market is adjacent to the famed Al-Hamidiyeh bazaar in one of the world's oldest cities.
"It began at 06:00 am in one shop in the center of the neighborhood and then spread to other shops," a senior civil defense member in the market told AFP.
Identical accounts said shopkeepers were informed to evacuate their shops before by government amid Iran's pressure to control areas surrounding two Shiite shrines of Sayyida Ruqayya and Imam Al-Hussein, son Ali ibn Abi Talib, and Prophet Muhammad's grandson, near and in the Umayyad Mosque.
Activists said the fire is totally deliberate.
Speaking to the official SANA news agency, the capital's civil defense chief General Jihad Mousa blamed an electrical fault.
An AFP correspondent said at least 50 store fronts and warehouses were damaged.
Syria's economy has already been devastated by the five-year war, with its foreign reserves depleted and inflation soaring.
"Our livelihood has gone," said one shopkeeper after Saturday's blaze, his head in his hands. "This shop used to feed ten people who worked for me."
An AFP correspondent said the owner of the shop where the fire started was taken to hospital with severe burns to his head and hand.
Firefighters tried to douse the flames from within the souk's alleyways and from rooftops.
Toy shop owner Mohammad Ashqar said he had restocked his store just two days before the fire.
"I haven't been able to go in yet to check on the shop," he said.
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