Two powerful blasts in quick succession ripped through Damascus, Syrian capital Thursday, killing more than 40 people and injuring more than 100 others.

According to a report from the Syrian officials who confirmed the casualty figure “Two explosions caused by terrorists took place on the road in the south of Damascus,” the report said, adding that the blasts occurred “as people were heading to work and children to school”.

An Associated Press reporter at the scene said medical workers were collecting human remains from the streets after the explosions and heavily damaged cars and pickup trucks stood smouldering in the area.

The outer wall of the nine-storey headquarters collapsed, although the structure inside appeared intact.

One resident, who said he got within 100 metres of one of the blasts before being turned back by security forces, told Reuters news agency he saw broken glass on the street and women crying. Nearby schools had sent children home for the day.

Meanwhile, Major General Robert Mood, chief of a UN observer mission in Syria, who rushed to the site of the blasts shortly after they took place to survey the damage, said “This is yet another example of the suffering brought upon the people of Syria from acts of violence…we, the world community, are here with the Syrian people and I call on everyone within and outside Syria to help stop this violence,” he said.

The attacks came a day after the general Mood escaped unharmed when a roadside bomb exploded as he led a team of UN observers into the southern flashpoint city of Deraa.