Syrian authorities said 18 people were wounded by two blasts in central Damascus on Tuesday near the hotel where France’s president spent the night, with the Élysée Palace saying his visit is ongoing, writes Euronews.

"The blasts came moments before Syrian state television announced Emmanuel Macron’s arrival to the presidential palace to meet his counterpart Ahmed al-Sharaa. The French president, the first Western leader to visit Syria since the fall of longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad in 2024, will continue his visit, Paris said.

The Syrian interior ministry said that "18 people, including four police officers, were injured" as a result of the two explosions caused by "two improvised devices, the first of which was placed inside a car parked on the side of the road, while the second was placed inside a garbage container”.

The ministry said the devices exploded "while preparations were underway” to dismantle them. A security source told the AFP news agency earlier the bombs were placed near the Four Seasons hotel, where Macron had spent the night. AFP journalists heard at least one blast echo through Damascus before seeing a plume of smoke rising near the hotel, with security forces closing nearby roads and ambulances heading to the scene. Macron had left the hotel before the blasts took place, and they were not heard by the French presidential convoy, according to two AFP journalists traveling with them. An AFP photographer near the tourism ministry, opposite the hotel, saw windows damaged by one of the explosions, amid a heavy security presence.

The second explosion occurred near Victoria Bridge in central Damascus, about two hundred metres from the hotel".