Syrian reporter dives to avoid missile during live cross

A Syrian reporter has been forced to dive for cover during a live cross when a bomb exploded only metres away from him.

The Orient News journalist was reporting near the northern city of Hama when the unmistakeable sound of an approaching missile could suddenly be heard.

He runs off camera and dives, the ground shaking from the impact as his assistants yell, "Allah Akbar".

Smoke then rises no more than 50 metres away from where he was reporting from.

Orient News claim the bomb came from Russian forces.

The head of a Britain-based monitoring group, Rami Abdel Rahman, told AFP today that four months of Russian strikes in Syria have killed 3578 people.

Of the total 1380 are civilians - 332 children, 195 women and 853 men.

The estimate comes as representatives of Syria's main Saudi-backed opposition body arrived on Saturday in Switzerland for UN-organised peace talks.

More than 260,000 people have been killed in Syria's conflict, which erupted nearly five years ago with anti-government protests.