At least 25 dead and thousands injured after massive explosion rocks Beirut

Marwan Naamani/DPA/ZUMA Press

Former Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri said in a tweet that the scale of the losses after an explosion rocked the capital Beirut “was too great to be described” with the “biggest loss is the loss of dozens of dead and injured.” 

Lebanon's health minister told reporters earlier that at least 25 people have been killed and more than 2,500 injured in Tuesday’s massive blast at Beirut port.

 STR/AFP/Getty Images

At least 25 people have been killed and more than 2,500 injured in Tuesday’s massive blast at Beirut port, Health Minister Hamad Hassan told reporters.

The cause of the explosion remains unclear.

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this post misstated the number of injuries in the headline. The health minister said more than 2,500 people were injured.

The secretary-general of the Kataeb political party, Nazar Najarian, was killed in the powerful explosion on Tuesday, according to Lebanon state-run NNA news. 

Najarian was in his office when the explosion happened. He died after being critically injured.

Valarie Fakhoury, a British grandmother with her Lebanese daughter and granddaughter, stand outside the emergency ward of a hospital in central Beirut. Janine Haidar/AFP/Getty Images

Hundreds of people have been hospitalized across the Lebanese capital and many are feared dead in the aftermath of a massive blast that rocked Beirut, shattering glass and damaging buildings miles from the site.

Hospital emergency rooms are being inundated by the injured, with the emergency section of one main hospital – the American University of Beirut Medical Center – unable to receive more patients, partly due to blast damage, according to state media.

The Lebanese Red Cross, health officials and politicians have called on people to donate blood to help the injured in hospital.

Images from the city show cars, ambulances and military vehicles packed with the walking wounded and others who appeared not to be moving.

While officials have yet to announce an official number of casualties, multiple members of the emergency services and politicians speaking to local media have expressed worries that there could be a high death toll.

The World Health Organization’s regional office for the Eastern Mediterranean is working with partners, including Lebanon’s Public Health Ministry, to respond to “urgent needs” following the “massive explosion” that rocked Beirut on Tuesday. 

The organization said it is working with the country's health ministry “to make sure trauma supplies are available.”

The President of the European Council Charles Michel has tweeted his support for the people of Lebanon and the families of the victims of the blast that rocked Beirut on Tuesday. 

“My thoughts are with the people of #Lebanon and with the families of the victims of the tragic #BeirutBlast,” Michel wrote. “The EU stands ready to provide assistance and support.”

“Stay strong,” Michel also wrote. 

Here's the tweet:

Israel’s Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi has denied any suggestions that Israel might have been responsible for the explosion in Beirut. 

Speaking a few moments ago on Channel 12 News in Israel, he said he saw “no reason not to believe the reports from Beirut that this was an accident.” 

CNN has also spoken to two government officials who both reiterated Israel’s lack of involvement.

“Israel had nothing to do with the incident,” one of the officials said.

A massive explosion shook Lebanon's capital Beirut on Tuesday evening.

The blast appears to have been centered on the city's port area. The cause of the explosion is still unclear.

The explosion that rocked Beirut on Tuesday dealt considerable damage to the Baabda Palace, the official residence of the Lebanese president, according to Lebanese state media.

The blast shattered the windows of hallways, entrances and salons, Lebanese state news agency NNA reported on Tuesday. “Doors and windows in several of the palace’ wings were dislocated,” it reported.

“No one was hurt,” NNA also reported.