Syria: Aleppo building collapse kills at least nine people - reports

A building collapsed in Syria's northern city of Aleppo on Wednesday, killing at least nine people, including three children, Syrian regime television reported.

The broadcaster said the reportedly illegally built, five-storey building in Aleppo's southern neighbourhood of Fardous collapsed in the evening.

It said five women, three children and an elderly man were killed. The regime's SANA news agency said six women were killed, which would make the total number of deaths 10.

The TV station's report also said two people were injured and seven nearby buildings were evacuated for fear they might collapse as well.

Search operations were still ongoing amid the rubble in case more people might be buried under the debris.

The cause of the collapse was not immediately known.

Fardous was a rebel-held neighbourhood until December 2016, when regime forces with the help of Russia and Iran captured eastern parts of the city, which had been held by opposition groups for four years.

Many buildings in Aleppo were completely destroyed or damaged during Syria's ongoing 11-year conflict, which has killed hundreds of thousands and displaced half the country's pre-war population of 23 million.

Aleppo is Syria's largest city and was once its commercial centre.