Two large explosions ripped through Lebanon’s capital Beirut on Tuesday at around 6 p.m. local time, causing widespread damage and hundreds of injuries, though the source of the blasts was not immediately clear
KEY FACTS
Lebanon’s National News Agency reported the explosions, which occurred near the city’s main port area, may have started with a fire in a hangar storing fireworks.
A powerful blast shook the city, sending plumes of smoke into the sky and damaging buildings several hundreds of feet away.
Lebanon’s health minister Hamad Hassan said the explosion has wounded hundreds.
Emergency workers are presently responding to the blasts and authorities fear many casualties
Locals are sharing pictures and videos of the city, filled with shattered glass and dust, on social media:
The explosion comes days before a UN tribunal was due to issue a verdict in the trial over the killing of former Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri.
Key Background
Four men are being tried over the 2005 Beirut bombing that killed Rafik al-Hariri and 21 others at The Special Tribunal for Lebanon, an international court jointly run by the United Nations and Lebanon. The four defendants are linked to Shia Islamist group Hezbollah, though Hezbollah denies involvement in Hariri’s killing. The Friday verdict would be the first since the tribunal’s creation in 2007.