Syrian police: Bus bombing kills 5 in central city of Homs

DAMASCUS, Syria – The police chief in Syria's central city of Homs says a bomb planted on a taxi van killed at least five people.

Maj. Gen. Khaled Hilal tells Syria TV that the vehicle targeted Wednesday was mainly carrying university students, and that four other passengers were wounded.

Hilal says initial reports indicate a man got on the van to plant the device and stepped off before it exploded. Footage aired on al-Ikhbariya state TV shows the skeleton of the taxi van after the explosion.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition-run monitoring group, says at least two people were killed.

Syrian rebels and their families are in the process of evacuating the last opposition-held neighborhood in Homs after an agreement to surrender the long-besieged area to government forces.