Not less than  37 people, consisting mostly women and children, have been killed and 80 other people injured after regime forces bombed an underground shelter in Eastern Ghouta, according to rescuers and activists working on the ground.

Sources on the ground and rescuers from the Syrian Civil Defence, a volunteer rescue group which is also known as the White Helmets, said on Friday that the most of the victims were burned to death after air strikes carrying napalm gas hit the shelter in the town of Arbeen.

“An airstrike targeted one of the underground cellars in Arbeen last night where between 117 to 125 people, mostly women and children, were hiding,” Izzet Muslimani, said an activist in Eastern Ghouta.

“Those who were injured are still being treated for first and second degree burns. With the lack of emergency services, we are expecting the death toll to rise,” added Muslimani.

Zaher Hassoun, another activist who is working in the rebel enclave, confirmed such reports that the Syrian government had hit the shelter with napalm gas, a flammable liquid that is used in warfare as it sticks to skin surface and causes severe burns on it.

Earlier this month, the Syrian Civil Defence said the Syrian government hit Arbeen area with poisonous chlorine gas, phosphorous and napalm. The news also followed with reports of several alleged poisonous chemical attacks in a matter of days.

Eastern Ghouta has been under a total control of armed opposition groups since the year 2013 – two years into a popular uprising in Syria which called for the removal of President Bashar al-Assad.

More than 1,500 civilians have died in the enclave since the strikes began in east of the capital, Damascus, and the regime forces were backed by the Russian warplanes who launched a fierce assault on February 18.

The attack reportedly came just within hours before a ceasefire went into effect after midnight which saw hundreds of opposition fighters and their families being evacuated on Thursday from the town of Harasta in the eastern part of Eastern Ghouta, according to Syrian state media.

Sana, the official Syrian news agency, said not less than six buses which were carrying the evacuees were headed to Idlib province in Syria’s north, which is an area under opposition control.

The evacuation is a part of a deal which was brokered by Russia, a crucial ally on Wednesday between fighters in Harasta and a Syrian government delegation.

The operation was in fact facilitated by a United Nations delegation as well as the Syrian Red Crescent.

Until recently, Eastern Ghouta was one of the last remaining strongholds for the rebels. In a renewed offensive by the Syrian government since February 18, the opposition lost large parts of it, with the Syrian army claiming it has now recaptured at least 80 percent of the suburb.

You May Also Read: Chinese Space Station ‘Heavenly Palace 1’ May Turn Its Crashing Site Into Hell