国际英语新闻:Death toll in triple bombings south of Damascus rises to 83

DAMASCUS, Feb. 21 (Xinhua) -- The death toll in the triple bombings that rocked a Shiite district in Damascus on Sunday has risen to 83, state news agency SANA said.

As many as 178 others were injured in the three bombings that rocked the predominantly-Shiite district of Sayyidah Zaynab, south of Damascus, SANA said.

The first explosion was a car bomb, which was followed by two other suicide bombings, SANA added.

The blasts took place close to the al-Sader Hospital in Teen Street in that sprawling district.

The Sayyidah Zaynab district houses a key Shiite shrine that contains the tomb of Zaynab, Islam's Prophet Muhammad's granddaughter.

The Sayyidah Zaynab tomb is a center of religious studies for adherents of the Shiite sect of Islam, and is also a mass pilgrimage destination for Shiite Muslims from across the world.

The bombings are the latest in a series that targeted the district which is guarded by fighters of Lebanon's Hezbollah group.

Last month, at least 45 people died and 100 others were wounded in two explosions in the same Shiite district.

Sunday's bombings in Sayyidah Zaynab occurred just a few hours after a series of twin bombings which killed 57 people in the pro-government district of Zahra' in downtown Homs.