5 August 2020 08:42 am
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.
Witnesses have stressed the sheer enormity of the blast, which was reportedly heard in Cyprus, and likened it to a ‘nuclear bomb’.
Security sources told Reuters the blast occurred where there are warehouses storing explosives, although it was not immediately clear what caused the blast.
Officials have not confirmed what type of explosives are in the facilities, but witnesses pointed to videos which seem to show fireworks shooting out of the smoke. 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.
-Daily Mail, 4 Aug, 2020