This reminds me of that North Korean train blast that happened in April 2004. It decreased the surrounding population by about 3000. There were many phony excuses made about it. I would still love to know the real story behind it.
Syria has also had a string of bad luck:
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5iJugIQvDKwkxupz9eULk1ml6OZ4Q