A massive explosion believed to have been triggered by a scrap dealer handling an old bomb killed at least 16 people in Syria, civil defence officials said Sunday.

Ordnance from Syria's 13-year conflict exploded in the coastal city of Latakia, collapsing a building and killing more than a dozen people, the Syrian Civil Defense said Sunday. The paramedic group known as the White Helmets said it worked overnight,

At least 16 people were killed in Syria on Sunday after a scrap dealer mishandled an old bomb, causing a massive explosion, officials said. A four-storey building was demolished in the blast that took place in the city of Latakia on Saturday.

A blast in the Syrian coastal city of Latakia killed at least three people on Saturday, state media reported, with a war monitor saying it was triggered by unexploded ordnance.The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor later described the blast as an "accident" resulting from a resident's attempt to dismantle unexploded ordnance in the building.

Experts estimate that between 100,000 and 300,000 of the roughly one million munitions used during the Syrian civil war never detonated.An unexploded bomb from Syria's 13- year conflict exploded in the coastal city of Lattakia,

The explosion occurred in a metal scrap storage space on the ground floor of a four-storey building in Latakia.