A massive explosion in the Lebanese capital of Beirut has left at least 10 people dead and destroyed the home of the former prime minister.
The Future Movement Party confirmed that ex-PM Saad Hariri is safe, but the country’s health minister said the blasts had caused a ‘very high number of injuries’ and huge damage.
Medical sources told Reuters that at least 10 people been killed by the explosion, which appeared to follow a fire – the cause of which is unknown – at the port.
Dramatic footage shows smoke billowing from the port area shortly before an enormous fireball explodes into the sky and blankets the city in a thick mushroom cloud.
Security sources told Reuters the blast occurred where there are warehouses storing explosives, although it was not immediately clear what caused the blast or what kind of explosives.
Sources close to Lebanon’s militant group Hezbollah denied theories the blast was an Israeli strike on a weapons facility.
It comes just days before a United Tribunal is set to rule on the assassination of the country’s former PM Rafik Hariri, Saad’s father.
The explosion comes at a time of heightened tensions in the Middle Eastern country which is is passing through its worst economic and financial crisis in decades.
Miles from the scene of the blast – which people in Cyprus even claimed to have heard – balconies were knocked down, ceiling collapsed and windows were shattered.
Local media carried images of people trapped under rubble, some bloodied, and crowds were pictured fleeing down debris-covered streets
A massive explosion has rocked Beirut this afternoon destroying buildings and sending a huge fireball into the sky
Firefighters spray water at a fire after an explosion was heard in Beirut
The loud blast – so enormous it was heard in Cyprus – was felt across large parts of the city, with some districts losing electricity.
Harrowing scene pictures show injured people walking from the debris, which was sprayed over the streets of Beirut.
One witness said: ‘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.’
Another witness said she saw heavy grey smoke near the port area and then heard an explosion and saw flames of fire and black smoke.
They said: ‘All the downtown area windows are smashed and there are wounded people walking around. It is total chaos.’
‘Buildings are shaking,’ tweeted one resident, while another wrote: ‘An enormous, deafening explosion just engulfed Beirut. Heard it from miles away’.
Online footage from a Lebanese newspaper office showed blown out windows, scattered furniture and demolished interior panelling.
A mobile phone image showing a general view of the harbor area with smoke billowing from an area of a large exoplosion, with damage and debris after a large explosion rocked the harbor area of Beirut
People on the street in Beirue which is strewn with debris from damaged buildings following the explosion
The loud blast in Beirut’s port area was felt across large parts of the city and some districts lost electricity
It comes amid political tension in Lebanon, with street demonstrations against the government’s handling the worst economic crisis since the 1975-1990 civil war.
Late last year investigators revealed what was effectively a state-sponsored pyramid scheme being run by the central bank, which was borrowing from commercial banks at above-market interest rates to pay back its debts and maintain the Lebanese pound’s fixed exchange rate with the US dollar.
In January mass protests against the corruption allegations and a faltering economy led to the fall of Prime Minister Saad Hariri’s government.
His predecessor , Independent Hassan Diab, cut the country’s budget by $700million and put in place a financial rescue plan a month later.
But Lebanon’s problems have persisted after the Covid-19 pandemic forced global border closures, and protests have returned after the Lebanese pound fell in value, despite a lockdown being imposed in March.
Many businesses have been forced to close, but as prices continue to rise with a devalued currency some are struggling to buy basic necessities, and the prime minister warned that Lebanon was at risk of a ‘major food crisis’.
Analysts suggest the crisis has been prolonged because of political sectarianism, with the president, prime minister and speaker split between the three largest cultural groups; Christians; Shia Muslim; and Sunni Muslims.
Parliament is also drawn down the middle between Christian and Muslim members.
With the country’s governance in need of unity between the competing groups, external powers have been able to interfere in the country. Iran, for instance, backs the militant Hezbollah Shia movement.
Dramatic footage on social media shows people screaming as an enormous blast rocks the waterside area of Lebanon’s capital city
A wounded man walks near the scene of an explosion in Beirut
A large explosion rocked the Lebanese capital Beirut today. The blast, which rattled entire buildings and broke glass, was felt in several parts of the city