Major explosion rocks Beirut

Aug 4, 2020

At least one massive explosion rocked the Lebanese capital Beirut today.

“The sound may have been heard in all of Beirut,” resident Alvis Albazi told Al-Monitor.

At around 6:00 pm local time, videos emerged on social media showing a giant cloud of smoke near the Beirut Port along the Mediterranean Sea. Around 30 minutes later, several people posted videos of a massive explosion in the city. Some of the videos on social media appear to show that the explosion followed a previous incident resulting in smoke.

The incident took place close to downtown Beirut at the center of the city. There was massive damage to the offices, homes and other buildings in the vicinity of the explosion. There was also damage in other coastal areas of Lebanon outside of Beirut, indicating the strength of the blast.

The cause of the blast is unknown at this time. Agence France-Presse reported that there were two explosions in the Beirut port area that left dozens of people injured, citing a security source.

This is a developing story.