(CNN) -- Residents of one of Syria's most war-ravaged cities demanded answers Thursday after a pair of devastating explosions killed dozens of children. The bloodshed Wednesday spurred mourning residents to demand the ouster of the Homs governor and his assistant, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. It spurred a Syrian official, Hilal al-Hilal, to visit the wounded and offer condolences to loved ones of the dead at the direction of President Bashar al-Assad. "(These) heinous crimes against innocent children reflects the cowardice of the terrorists who have sought to kill science," al-Hilal said, according to the state-run Syrian Arab News Agency.
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Group says at least 53 killed -- including 46 children -- in twin explosions in Homs
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Mourning residents called for the ouster of Homs' governor
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Syrian official blasts "heinous crimes against innocent children," state news says
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Homs had been a focal point in Syria's civil war but was relatively quiet in recent months
An earlier @placeholder story said that an explosives-packed car was detonated minutes before a suicide bomber blew himself up in front of a school.