Construction worker makes chance discovery of 1,500-year-old tomb complex

A boy walks out of a pit after exploring the tombs from a Byzantine underground complex, believed to be over 1,500 years old, uncovered by a contractor during the reconstruction of a war-damaged house in Maarat al-Numan - (AP)

A construction worker has unearthed a 1,500-year-old Byzantine tomb complex in the war-torn province of Idlib, northern Syria.

The discovery occurred in Maarat al-Numan, a town of strategic importance between Aleppo and Damascus, which saw intense conflict during the Syrian civil war.