Dutch photographer injured in Syria blast

A Dutch photographer was wounded in the Syrian city of Homs on Wednesday, the foreign ministry said, after a shell exploded among a group of reporters, killing at least one journalist.

“He has been wounded, but he is already out of hospital,” a foreign ministry official told AFP, without disclosing his identity.

“We hope he can home tomorrow, our ambassador is in contact with him.”

An AFP reporter on the scene said a shell exploded amid a group of journalists covering demonstrations on a visit to the besieged city that had been authorised by Syrian authorities.

Veteran French television journalist Gilles Jacquier was killed in the blast while several others were reported wounded.

Among them was the Dutch freelance photographer whose name was not given, nor was the nature of his injuries known, the Dutch official said.

Jacquier was the first Western journalist to be killed in Syria since the revolt against President Bashar al-Assad’s regime sparked on March 15.