A large explosion rocked the Lebanese capital Beirut on Tuesday, damaging buildings and offices around the city. The source of the explosion was a major fire at a warehouse for firecrackers near the port in Beirut, the state-run National News Agency reported.
A red cloud hung over the city in the wake of the blast as firefighting teams rushed to the scene to try to put out the fire.
Local news reported multiple people were wounded in the incident.
Footage of the Explosion in #Beirut #Lebanon a few minutes ago. Praying for the safety of everyone. pic.twitter.com/6Q3y6A6DxL
— Fady Roumieh (@FadyRoumieh) August 4, 2020
Huge blast in Beirut just now! pic.twitter.com/hId8JhZMKV
— Tobias Schneider (@tobiaschneider) August 4, 2020
“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,” said a Reuters witness.
Local broadcaster LBC quoted the health minister as saying there was a “very high number” of injures and a large amount of damage. Al Mayadeen television said hundreds were wounded.
Another Reuters witness said she saw heavy grey smoke near the port area and then heard an explosion and saw flames of fire and black smoke: “All the downtown area windows are smashed and there are wounded people walking around. It is total chaos.”
It destroyed homes and offices around the port and shattered windows across the city.
Beirut local Fady Roumieh was among a large number of Twitter users to post videos of the explosion.
A video I received on WhatsApp of the scalr of explosion in #Beirut, confirming it was at the port. pic.twitter.com/bIkcyfsi0o
— Bissan Fakih (@BissanCampaigns) August 4, 2020
Two explosions not one
Most of the reports talked about an explosion but according to the Lebanese Daily Star there were 2 explosions .
According to the report the explosions that rocked Beirut port Tuesday afternoon, killed several and wounded hundreds and inflicted large scale damage to many parts of the capital.
At least 12 were reported dead by Reuters’ security and medical sources. The Lebanese Red Cross reported that more than 30 teams are aiding the injured.
Highly explosive material found
2 massive explosions rocked the Lebanese capital city of Beirut, destroying buildings, killing several and wounding hundreds of people and causing widespread damage. This photo shows one of the people woundedGeneral Security Chief Abbas Ibrahim in a visit to the explosion site said, “We cannot rush the investigation but there seems to have been material stored years ago. The word ‘fireworks’ is laughable. There is highly explosive material that had been seized.”
The explosion was heard as far as Cyrpus, according to Cypriot media.
Health Minister Hamad Hassan said there is a high likelihood of a number of injuries. T
Debris and glass covered the streets of Downtown Beirut. Cars and building windows were shattered.
Israeli officials said Israel had nothig to do with the explosion in Beirut.
U.N. spokesman Farhan Haq told reporters it was not immediately clear what the cause was, and that there was no indication of any injuries to any U.N. personnel.
“We do not have information about what has happened precisely, what has caused this, whether it’s accidental or manmade act,” he said.
The U.S. Pentagon said: “We are aware of the explosion and are concerned for the potential loss of life due to such a massive explosion.”
Update
According to General Abbas Ibrahim the explosion occurred in the warehouse that contained highly explosive material that was confiscated from one of the ships and the government have have disposed of it long time ago . Some reports identified the material as Sodium Nitrate which is used to make smoke bombs and fertilizers
There were urgent calls made to people in the area of the explosions to leave immediately and wear masks because this material is reportedly extremely dangerous for health
YL/CNN/ Al Jazerra/Reuters
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