The aftermath of a deadly bombing in a southern suburb of the Lebanese capital Beirut on Thursday was captured in video broadcast by the satellite channel run by Hezbollah, the militant movement and political party based in the area.
The Hezbollah station, Al Manar â€" meaning “The Beacon†in Arabic â€" also posted footage on its YouTube channel showing smoke and flames and a desperate scramble to evacuate the wounded.
The death toll from the blast in the suburb of Ruwais was mounting. A short time after Lebanon’s state news agency reported that at least 14 people had been killed and 212 wounded, a security source told Reuters 20 had been killed. Lebanon’s Daily Star reported that the interior minister, Marwan Charbel, said that the blast was the result of a powerful car bomb.
Our colleague Ben Hubbard reports from Beirut, the explosion ripped apart a commercial street surrounded by tall apartment buildings in a part of the city that is a Hezbollah stronghold. Rescue workers used flashlights as they combed upper floors checking on residents, a number of whom were evacuated. The blast blew out the fronts of apartment buildings, known as a stronghold of the militant Hezbollah group.
Lebanese bloggers shared photographs of the bombed out street captured on phones by witnesses on social networks.
Ben Hubbard contributed reporting from Beirut.
