DAMASCUS - Dozens of people have been killed by an air strike on a petrol station in the outskirts of the Syrian capital, Damascus, activists say.

Damascus residents say they saw burning bodies and a scene of horror after the strike on the petrol station in Mleiha district.

Unverified video footage showed charred bodies and burnt-out vehicles.

Opposition groups say more than 44,000 people have been killed since the uprising began in 2011.

Activists told Reuters news agency that warplanes had attacked the petrol station as a consignment of fuel arrived.

They said at least 30 people had been killed. Other activist groups put the figure at at least 50.

The exact figures could not be verified.

The BBC's Lina Sinjab in Damascus says Mleiha is not an opposition stronghold, and civilians appear to have borne the brunt of the attack.

Many of the killed or injured are women and children, she says.