A car bomb exploded Tuesday (January 22nd) in the Syrian regime's coastal stronghold of Latakia, killing one person and wounding four others, AFP reported.

"Initial reports indicate that a car bomb exploded and that the driver was killed while four other people were wounded," state news agency SANA reported, adding that the explosion occurred in the city's al-Hammam square.

Authorities found a second bomb in the same place and defused it just before it was due to blow up, the agency added.

It published video footage showing a burnt-out car surrounded by firefighters and soldiers.

The city, the capital of Latakia province located on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea, has largely escaped the violence that has devastated other regions of Syria since the conflict began in 2011.

According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Tuesday's blast was caused by an explosive device hidden inside the car or near it.

Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP that the driver killed in the blast was not a suicide attacker.