As my colleague Anne Barnard reported from Beirut, a large explosion hit the southern suburbs of Beirut on Thursday in an area populated by supporters of Hezbollah. It appeared to be the latest in a spree of bombings over Hezbollah’s support for the government of neighboring Syria in that country’s civil war.
News agencies quoted the health ministry as saying the death toll and the number of people injured from the latest bombing were climbing.
Lebanon’s LBCI English television channel broadcast live images of their coverage of the blast, which came less than a week after a car bomb that killed a number of civilians in the downtown business district of Beirut, including Mohamed B. Chatah, a former ambassador in the United States and a prominent member of the Future bloc, the Sunni party that is Hezbollah’s main political rival.
Al Manar, the television channel affiliated with Hezbollah, broadcast footage of the rescue and recovery efforts after the blast, which it said had been caused by a car bomb.
Bassem Mroue, a reporter with The Associated Press, posted images of the blast site and the hospital where the injured were being treated. Officials have urged citizens to donate blood.
NBC News had video of the chaotic aftermath in which weapons were apparently fired to disperse the crowds.
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