forces with al qaeda. more from cnn s fred polierik pleitgen in damascus. reporter: it s absolute mayhem in damascus. we were woken up in the middle of the night for massive explosions that went on for more than an hour, and there was so much explosions, so much gunfire, that people that live near that area actually thought there was a major battle going on there until they found out that it was probably a rocket strike by the israelis. it was at around 3:00 a.m. local time that gigantic explosions lit up the skies over damascus. one deafening blast after another, it went on for more than an hour, rocking a large military area in the suburbs of syria s capital and prompting terrified nearby residents to run for cover. this family lives a little over a mile away. daughter anna tells me what happened. after the first two bombs, we kept hearing explosions. there were like nine of them, because everything kept
targeting a military research facility just outside their capital. they claim jerusalem has joined forces with al qaeda. cnn s fred pleitgen live from damascus this morning. good morning, fred. hi, christine. it was absolute mayhem that night. we were torn out of our sleep in the middle of the night by these gigantic explosions. there were several, initial big blasts that went through the city, and then there were secondary explosions that went on for more than two hours. you could hear these explosions, you could hear gunfire in between residents of that area actually thought that there was a full-on battle going on there, and then syrian state television informed everybody that it was these strikes. have a look at the size of the blast. it was at around 3:00 a.m. local time that gigantic explosions lit up the skies over damascus. one deafening blast after another, it went on for more than an hour, rocking a large military area in the suburbs of syria s capital and prompting
pressure doesn t move much. the weather bringing it all of the way into washington and virginia. more rain coming there for you as we head toward the beginning of the week. fred? all right. alexandra steele, thank you so much. syrian officials are blaming israel for attacking the military s research facility. this report comes after israel allegedly carried out an air strike against syria last week. frederik pleitgen has details. gigantic explosions lit up the skies over damascus. it went on for more than an hour rocking a large military area in the suburbs of syria s capital and prompting terrified nearby residents to run for cover. this family lives a little over a mile away. daughter, anna, tells me what happened. after the first two bombs we kept hearing explosions. there was nine of them because everything kept exploding over and over again.
a moment here on cnn. syria says israel has declared war on the country with these devastated explosions overnight near the capital, damascus. israel refused comment. syria alleges israeli rockets struck a military research center. an exclusive interview with cnn, syria s deputy foreign minister says it will retaliate but did not specify when or how. we have that exculusive interviw just ahead for you. what started out as a night of fun took a tragic turn. a limousine carrying nine women burst into flames on a bridge over san francisco bay last night leaving five of the dead five of them dead and the rest hospitalized. it appears, though, the fire started in the trunk of the limo but the cause is under investigation. the limousine company says it will do everything possible to assist authorities in determining the cause of the fire. a frightening piece of video to show you, it s from an air show today. a stunt plane and thousands of people in a festive mood at
probably a rocket strike by the israelis. it was at around 3:00 a.m. local time that gigantic explosions lit up the skies over damascus. one deafening blast after another, it went on for more than an hour. rocking a large military area in the suburbs of syria s capital and prompting terrified nearby residents to run for cover. this family lives over a mile away. daughter, anna, tells me what happened. after the first two bombs, we kept hearing explosions. there were, like, nine of them, because everything kept explo exploding over and over again. we can hear gunshots. we can hear people screaming. so basically we didn t know what to do, and there was a problem with us breathing because the smoke was too much. reporter: in a second alleged israeli air strike in three days, the syrian government says the latest target was a military research facility. the opposition says it was an ammunition depot.