Area that it was housing in an area that it was housing highly Explosive Materials. There was another report from the interior minister in lebanon who was saying the initial information indicated that a highly Explosive Material that a highly Explosive Material that was seized years ago in lebanon had blown up. That was according to lebanons interior minister. So we will bring you more on those various reports and what may have been responsible for the blast. But earlierJames Reynolds also spoke to the journalist Lizzie Porter, earlierJames Reynolds also spoke to thejournalist Lizzie Porter, who witnessed that explosion in beirut. It was around 6 10 p m. , early evening here in beirut, it was like a roll of thunder and it shook my apartment building. It was like an earthquake going through the building. I walked towards the door because. But this was a different
noise. And then this roll of thunder like noise, then an enormous bang. I was blown back from the door, which is now broken and we have no door on oui is now broken and we have no door on our apartment building, along with a spray of glass, as well. All around us, people were screaming. So the destruction in the spread of this explosion is really quite sensitive. Z. Explosion is really quite sensitive. Z, explain to our viewers, we are showing a number of pictures taken by you in the aftermath lizzie . Thats the house 1. 5 km away. Thats 1. 5 km away, that gives us a sense of the power of the blast felt across the capital city. Absolutely,
the whole building shook, and people in the mountains, after it happened, my in the mountains, after it happened, p in the mountains, after it happened, my whatsapp was filling with m essa 9 es my whatsapp was filling with messages from people in the mountains who asked, 0h messages from people in the mountains who asked, oh my goodness, did you feel that . Their buildings were shaking up there. Theres lots of casualties down in the area of the port. And in the aftermath of the explosion, were you able to talk to other people around that area . What was the sense of peoples mood of the atmosphere . We have a lot of elderly neighbours in oui have a lot of elderly neighbours in our district that we live in, the residential district. So people were screaming, screaming that the property had been destroyed. Down towards the centre of the city, the
scale of the destruction increases. The situation is overly tense dashed already tense. We are going through already tense. We are going through a lockdown, the economy is collapsing, people are already tense. Theyve already lost a lot of property through economic collapse, so property through economic collapse, so now property through economic collapse, so now to have all this damage happen from this event, it also brings back memories of a previous explosion back in 2005 when the former Prime Minister was killed in a massive car bomb. Elderly residents in older residents here, that immediately brings back the traumatic memories. They are a people used to dealing with unexplained explosions and strikes. I wonder if that makes it more difficult . I think it is both. I wonder if that makes it more difficult . Ithink it is both. It
means that people thats definitely a thing, that is definitely a thing, that is definitely a thing, that is definitely a phenomenon, but it is very frustrating because it shouldnt have to be like that, that theyve lived through so many of these kinds of events. Yes, they are resilient, but they shouldnt have to be so resilient because of so many traumatic and violent experiences having happened here. People are immediately thinking of it israeli jet explosion. It is looking unlikely, but various folk sources are saying looking unlikely, but various folk sources are saying that is not the case. People here are aware of the
fa ct case. People here are aware of the fact that israel launches strikes against syria,. In previous weeks, people have already been talking about the economy being bad, so israel will do something. That is not confirmed to have been happening yet, and it looks like that wasnt the case from all confirmed sources. But that is very much a fear that comes up but that is very much a fear that comes up when something happens like this. Wonder if this was simply an explosion happening on its own is devastating enough. But notjust on top of the pandemic, but a year long political and economic crisis the people of beirut or having to deal with an awful lot at the moment . Absolutely. To give you an example, the current collapse is more than
70 this year. For example, the price of food has doubled or tripled, even. People have lost their savings, people cant access their savings, people cant access their savings. People have really, really struggled and lost businesses, jobs. Now have Something Else on top of that, it will be very, very difficult to see how people will struggle to get through this. And it is adding another extra pressure on people already living through this stress. That was journalist Lizzie Porter in beirut there. Nowjust to say journalist Lizzie Porter in beirut there. Now just to say that the latest reports we are getting is at the explosion may have been caused by Explosive Materials. Which had been seized by the Security Forces in beirutand been seized by the Security Forces in beirut and stored in the port. Lets just remind you of those
pictures that show the blast when it happened. That was the second much larger explosion as it happened in the port of beirut. The bbcs middle east a nalyst the port of beirut. The bbcs middle east analyst sebastian. Said that exclusion like this will exacerbate tensions in a city with such a history of violence and conflict. Tensions in a city with such a history of violence and conflictm is something where you immediately wonder what the cause is, you look at beirut look at beirut, you look at lebanon, the key thing is the cause. When you see the testimony, the damage, when you hear from people kilometres away in their windows have been destroyed, offices have even inside, completely turned over, and it looks like a war zone, you just have to think that in itself, whatever the cause of this was, this is just a huge Major Incident that has had beirut. And as you were saying, obviously it is a city that has experienced this so often in the past, and you talk about experience. When a blast like this happens in beirut, in august their manger of many, but there is one in particular, perhaps other people had mentioned this already, the huge explosion which actually happened in the heart of beirut, in the centre. This would happen away from that, perhaps fortuitously, but that was the assassination of rafic hariri back in 2005. This week on friday sees the verdict being given in the trial of those involved in his murder, all of them linked to hezbollah, so there have been more tensions growing over that. Obviously this will remind people of that and people will say, is it related to it . Everything will be going through peoples mines, what could be the cause, who could gain from this, who would want to do this,
but my first reaction to something of this level at this moment in beirut is raising the stakes so immensely that you cannot think of an actor at the moment who would be willing or want to take that kind of a risk. As you were saying, the reports at the moment from official sources, the Health Ministry being one, that he couldve been a fireworks factory. The issue with that is when you look at the pictures, obviously that is what people doing everywhere, in beirut particularly, explosion of this nature, almost unparalleled, it is an odd kind of explosion and its a shock wave which happens. Who knows what fireworks do . You kind of think, could it have only been fireworks have caused such an explosion . We are seeing it feed her all the networks in lebanon and outside, try to work on who may behind it be behind it, and that adds to the tension. Beirut always has the sense it is on the cusp of something bad happening. That has been intensified recently with the economic collapse, sectarian tensions have begun to grow again, so it can only add to that beyond what the human cost emerging in this. And im seeing reports from friends, people i know, that hospitals are being overwhelmed by the numbers of people walking in with wounds. Sebastian usher there, or middle east a nalyst. Sebastian usher there, or middle east analyst. Since we spoke to sebastian, its being reported that the internal security chief, the interior minister in lebanon has said that this happened in an area of the port of beirut that was housing highly Explosive Materials that have been confiscated over the last few years, and somehow they had
exploded in that huge explosion in beirut that has killed at least ten people and injured hundreds more. You watching bbc news. You are watching bbc news. Hadi nasrallah lives close to where the blast took place. Heres his account. So basically i was in a taxi, it is an area on the coast so i can still see whats going on. I saw the fire but i didnt know there was going to be an explosion. We went inside, and suddenly i lost my hearing. Apparently i was too close. So i lost my hearing for a few seconds, i knew something was wrong, and suddenly the glass just shattered all over the car, the cars around us, the stores and buildings, just glass going down all over the building. First impression, i thought it was an explosion. I instantly thought it was an assassination attack, because it usually happens
in that area. It was very scary, it was loud, it was very loud. Once i looked at the smoke, it wasnt dark and black as we usually witness, because i live in beiruts southern suburb and we had a wave of car bombs the past years. So looking at the smoke, i knew it was Something Else, not a car bomb necessarily. Because of the colour of the smoke . It was the colour of the smoke, usually it is dark and black, just going around. This time it was pinkish, it looked like a volcano which was very weird. There was the first time ive ever seen Something Like that, so i didnt initially suspect it was a car bomb. So in those years where beirut has had political assassinations, explosions, air strikes, the explosions looked very different from the explosion you sawjust now . The smoke would rise dramatically and it would be very dark, very black. This time, it looked kind of pink
and light, a little bit white, which is why i knew it wasnt an attack. Forgive me, were you with anyone else . What happened to them . The taxi driver was slightly injured because the glasses fell on him, i was sitting in the back so ijust got. The window blast followed me. It didnt hurt me as much as him because the car glass went into his face. Your driver, the windscreen did the glass break . Was he able to pull over . How did he manage to drive to safety . The thing is, we didnt know what happened, so the carjust suddenly stopped because we both lost our hearing for seconds before we heard the explosion, which we knew something was wrong. We stopped the car, then when the glass broke, i started speaking to him. I saw some blood on him, he told me he was ok
and told me to go home. So i went and i saw another cab, and i told him i have to go to that area. I made sure he was ok, hejust had slight injuries on his face. He was calling his family. And eyewitness. If yourejust joining us on bbc news, there are two explosions in the port city of beirut, absently devastating huge explosion. And eyewitnesses heard the earth move for miles around, many people thought it was an earthquake. According to the interior minister, it may be that this happened in a building that was housing highly Explosive Materials that had been confiscated over the yea rs. That had been confiscated over the years. But it is a blast thats killed at least ten people we are hearing, and may have injured around 500 others. You are watching bbc news, James Reynolds is coming up with much more at the top of the hour. This is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. A massive explosion rocks the lebanese capital of beirut. Many people are injured and buildings are badly damaged. I lost my hearing for a few seconds. I knew something was wrong, and then suddenly the glass just shattered all over the car, the cars around us, the shops, the stores, the buildings. Just glass going down from all over the buildings. Scientists warn the uk government needs to improve the test and trace system before schools re open as its boss denies its a failure. Guys, as its boss denies its a failure. One, two, three,