About 50 people killed and injured in escalated shelling by the Russian warplanes which targeted more than 40 ferry boats east of Deir Ezzor

Deir Ezzor province – The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights:: The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights learned that the Russian warplanes continue their heavy shelling on the ferry boats used for travelling between the eastern and western banks of the Euphrates River. These airstrikes targeted the ferries in the river area linking between al-Boleel town in the western banks of the Euphrates and al-Dahla and Al-Sabha towns in the eastern banks of the river in the eastern countryside of Deir Ezzor, and this escalation left at least 3 people killed and more than 30 others were injured with varying severity, raising to at least 7, including a man and his wife and two children, the number of martyrs who were killed in the raids on the water crossing between al-Boleel and the eastern banks of the Euphrates within the past 24 hours, while the death toll is expected to be increased because of the presence of at least 42 injured persons, some of them in dangerous conditions, where reliable sources to the Syrian Observatory that the warplanes targeted more than 40 ferries since Yesterday night in this area.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights published yesterday that the Russian warplanes and helicopters increased the range of their targeting in the vicinity of Deir Ezzor city and its outskirts, in which the Russian warplanes and helicopters targeted areas at the western bank of the Euphrates River during the past 24 hours, and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights observed that these warplanes carried out strikes targeted ferries which was carrying citizens fleeing from the intensive aerial and ground shelling, and the SOHR documented that 4 citizens were killed they are a man, his wife and two children, as well as the injury of more than 12 others with varying degrees of severity, by the strikes which targeted ferries between Al-Boleel area and the eastern bank of the Euphrates River, amid resentment prevails the area because of the targeting of citizens by warplanes which claimed that they came to “set the citizens free”, during their replacement from the intensive shelling on Deir Ezzor city and its countryside under the pretext of “fighting the Islamic State Organization”.

 It is worth to mention that the citizens turned to use ferries to travel between the western and the eastern banks of the Euphrates River, after most of the bridges over the river had been shelled, by Russian warplanes as well as the International Coalition warplanes during the past months, in which some ferries are used to transport citizens while the others are used to transport vehicles between the two banks.