Beirut: huge explosion kills at least 10, injures dozens more

Smoke rises in Beirut, Lebanon August 4, 2020.
 (Reuters/Mohamed Azakir)

A massive explosion in Beirut's city center has killed at least 10 people, injured dozens more, and shattered windows in the area. The damage is widespread across Lebanon's capital.

The cause of the blast is still unknown according to Lebanese security and Lebanese Red Cross workers posted on Twitter that more than 30 of their teams were responding via ambulances to the scene.

Area residents report that windows have been blown out, balconies have collapsed and there is widespread destruction that extends for miles, even the airport which is about six miles from the blast site.

One anonymous witness [we'll call him Mohammad] told Reuters, “I saw a fireball and smoke billowing over Beirut. People were screaming and running, bleeding. Balconies were blown off buildings. Glass in high-rise buildings shattered and fell to the street.”

Photo: Fox News screen grab

"We are aware of the explosion and are concerned for the potential loss of life due to such a massive explosion," Capt. Bill Urban, a spokesman for U.S. Central Command, said in a statement to Fox News.

The cause of the blast is under investigation but Hezbollah is already in the limelight, multiple intelligence sources told Fox News.

“There are cars with dead people in the streets under rubble, and the medical infrastructure was already at full speed due to the pandemic and lack of supplies,” one source in the region said

Lebanon’s Health Minister Hamad Hasan told local broadcaster LBC that the explosion had caused a “very high number of injuries” and extensive damage.

An AP photographer near the port saw people wounded on the ground and widespread destruction in central Beirut. Some local televisions stations reported the blast originated inside an area where firecrackers were stored.

According to the BBC, the event occurred just days before a UN tribunal is expected to issue a verdict on four alleged Hezbollah terrorists accused of killing former Lebanon PM Rafic Hariri in a 2005 car bombing along Beirut's seafront.

Photo: AP

Some reports said there might have been a second blast Tuesday across the city near the Hariri family residence.



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