A massive explosion in the Lebanese capital of Beirut has killed at least 30 people, left thousands more injured and wreaked devastation on the city.
The country’s health minister said more than 3,000 have been wounded following the blast at the city’s port, where warehouses are believed to contain explosive materials.
Dramatic footage from around 6pm local time shows smoke billowing from the waterfront 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 heard 125 miles away in Cyprus, and likened it to a ‘nuclear bomb’.
It obliterated the immediate surrounding buildings, where firefighters were still battling flames this evening, and even inflicted damage on districts miles away from the blast site.
General Security chief Abbas Ibrahim said: ‘It appears that there is a warehouse containing material that was confiscated years ago, and it appears that it was highly explosive material.’
Pointing to what appears to be fireworks shooting out of the smoke, experts said a combination of fireworks and highly flammable fertiliser could have sparked such an explosion.
Prime Minister Hasan Diab has declared Wednesday a day of mourning, and President Michel Aoun called for ‘urgent’ defence council talks.
Israel has denied any involvement amid escalating tensions with the militant group Hezbollah along the country’s southern border.
It joined other countries including France and Iran in offering aid to the county, which is passing through its worst economic and financial crisis in decades.
It comes just days before a United Nations tribunal is set to rule on the assassination of the country’s former PM Rafik Hariri.