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Lebanon: at least 10 killed as huge explosion rocks Beirut Lebanon: at least 25 killed as huge explosion rocks Beirut
(32 minutes later)
Dozens also injured in blast, which apparently occurred around city’s port area Thousands injured in blast, which occurred in city’s port area
Two huge explosions have rocked central Beirut, killing at least 10 people, shattering windows, knocking down doors and shaking buildings across the city. Two huge explosions have rocked Beirut, killing at least 25 people, injuring thousands more, and sending an enormous blast wave across the city that shattered windows, knocked down doors and shook buildings.
The blasts ripped through a section of the Lebanese capital’s port, sending an enormous blast wave across the city, which left leaving hundreds of homes uninhabitable. Hundreds of people sought treatment in nearby hospitals, which were struggling to cope with the casualties. Cars were left strewn across the surrounding highway, and the blast was heard up to 50 miles away in northern Lebanon. Hundreds of homes were left uninhabitable after the blasts ripped through a section of the Lebanese capital’s port.
Hours after the explosion, which took place at 6.05pm (1605 BST), the cause remained unclear. The Lebanese security chief Abbas Ibrahim blamed combustible chemicals stored in a warehouse. The interior minister, Mohammed Fahmi, said ammonium nitrate had been among the materials stored and called for an investigation. Thousands of people sought treatment in nearby hospitals, which were struggling to cope with the casualties, Lebanon’s health minister said. Cars were left strewn across the surrounding highway, and the blast was heard up to 50 miles away in the country’s north. The health minister Hamad Hassan put the confirmed death toll at 25 and estimated that 3,000 people had been injured.
So big was the force of the blast that it even rattled buildings in west and south Beirut, causing widespread panic three days before the verdict is due in an international tribunal trial for four men accused of blowing up a former Lebanese prime minister 15 years ago. “God help us from all these catastrophes, said Mamdouh, 25, a caterer who lost his job in June. “If this was an accident, as they’re saying, it’s the worst you could ever imagine. This was like a nuclear bomb. what have we done to deserve this?”
The Israeli government said its forces had not carried out an attack. The Beirut port is known to be used by the militant group come political bloc Hezbollah, which denied any of its facilities had been hit. Hours after the explosion, which took place at 6:05pm (1605 BST), the cause remained unclear. Israel denied responsibility and said it had offered humanitarian and medical aid.
Initial reports suggested that a fireworks warehouse was involved. The Lebanese security chief Abbas Ibrahim later blamed combustible chemicals stored in a warehouse. The interior minister, Mohammed Fahmi, said ammonium nitrate had been among the materials stored and called for an investigation into how it ignited.
“Talk of fireworks is ridiculous,” said Ibrahim. “There are no fireworks but rather highly explosive material, and I can’t foretell the investigations … it seems the explosion happened in a warehouse of highly explosive material that was confiscated years ago.”
So powerful was the force of the blast that it even rattled buildings in west and south Beirut. It happened three days before the verdict is due in an international tribunal trial of four men accused of blowing up a former Lebanese prime minister 15 years ago.
Any link to the tribunal result was quickly downplayed. Meanwhile, the Israeli government said its forces had not carried out an attack. “Israel has nothing to do with the incident,” an Israeli security official told Reuters on condition of anonymity. Israel’s foreign minister, Gabi Ashkenazi, told Israeli N12 television news that the explosion was most likely an accident caused by a fire.
The Beirut port is known to be used by the militant group cum political bloc Hezbollah, which denied any of its facilities had been hit.
The final death toll from the biggest explosion to ever rock Beirut is expected to be significantly higher.The final death toll from the biggest explosion to ever rock Beirut is expected to be significantly higher.
Georges Kettaneh, a Lebanese Red Cross official, said more deaths were expected when rescue teams combed through damaged buildings.Georges Kettaneh, a Lebanese Red Cross official, said more deaths were expected when rescue teams combed through damaged buildings.
A doctor at St George’s hospital, less than 2km (1.2 miles) from the blast, said injured people were being brought for treatment but were unable to be received because the hospital had been destroyed. A doctor at St Joseph’s hospital, less than 2km (1.2 miles) from the blast, said injured people were being brought for treatment but were unable to be received because the hospital had been destroyed.
“They’re bringing people to the hospital but we can’t treat them,” he said. “They’re leaving them outside in the street. The hospital is broken, the ER is broken.”“They’re bringing people to the hospital but we can’t treat them,” he said. “They’re leaving them outside in the street. The hospital is broken, the ER is broken.”
Videos shot by bystanders and posted to social media showed a smaller explosion with mini blasts rippling through a warehouse, followed by an enormous secondary blast, which lifted cars from a nearby highway and ravaged a nearby overpass.Videos shot by bystanders and posted to social media showed a smaller explosion with mini blasts rippling through a warehouse, followed by an enormous secondary blast, which lifted cars from a nearby highway and ravaged a nearby overpass.
An enormous cloud of smoke could be seen from across the city and witnesses said there were reports of a fire and several smaller explosions at the port that preceded the large blast. Damage at the port and in nearby entertainment areas was apocalyptic.
The impact of the blast was felt 200km away in Cyprus. “Everyone in Cyprus felt it,” said George, a resident of Larnaca. “The door was shaking in my house. In Larnaca they heard it and felt it … It was so loud we thought it happened here. My house was shaking.” The destruction comes as Lebanon is grappling with an economic implosion that has slashed incomes and jobs and led to soaring nationwide poverty. It also occurred amid rising tensions between Israel and Hezbollah along Lebanons southern border.
The office of the Daily Star newspaper, about 400 metres from the port, was among the buildings to sustain damage from the explosion. The impact of the blast, which was reminiscent of massive blasts during Lebanon’s civil war, was felt 200km away in Cyprus. “Everyone in Cyprus felt it,” said George, a resident of Larnaca. “The door was shaking in my house. In Larnaca they heard it and felt it … It was so loud we thought it happened here. My house was shaking.”
Pictures from inside Beirut’s port broadcast on Lebanese TV showed buildings reduced to shells, shipping containers flung across the scene and several fires raging. The office of the Daily Star newspaper, about one kilometre from the blast , was among the buildings to sustain damage from the explosion.
Lebanon’s health minister initially told journalists a ship carrying fireworks had blown up in the port, though the size of the blast raised suspicions it might have resulted from a rocket strike or detonation of explosives, deliberate or otherwise. Inside the port, buildings were reduced to shells, shipping containers flung across the scene and several fires raging.
The Lebanese customs director-general, Badri Daher, said the blast occurred at a chemical warehouse in the port area that was housing highly explosive materials that had been impounded some time ago. One woman covered in blood from the waist up walked down a ruined street while talking furiously on her phone. On another street, a woman with a bloodied face looked distraught, staggering through traffic with two friends at her side.
“Israel has nothing to do with the incident,” an Israeli security official told Reuters on condition of anonymity. Israel’s foreign minister, Gabi Ashkenazi, told Israeli N12 television news that the explosion was most likely an accident caused by a fire. “This country is cursed,” a young man passing by muttered.
More details soon …