9 updates
27 December 2013

Ex-minister killed in Beirut blast

A former Lebanese minister has reportedly been killed, along with at least four others, in a targeted explosion in the downtown business district of the Lebanese capital Beirut.

Live updates

Today's deadly explosion in Beirut interrupted a live interview on Lebanese TV station Future TV.

The explosion, which killed five people including a former minister, can be clearly heard inside the studio.

Read: Panic and terror amongst residents after Beirut bomb

The British ambassador to Lebanon Tom Fletcher has paid tribute to the former Lebanese minister killed in a blast in Beirut and condemned his "cowardly assassination"

Latest pictures from the scene of the blast

Residents have described seeing "panic and terror" in the streets of Beirut after a bomb blast hit the Lebanese capital killing five people including a former minister.

"The explosion caught motorists driving in the morning rush hour here. There was terror and panic among residents. There was a big ball of fire and panic everywhere and then we learned that Chatah was the target," Adel-Raouf Kneio said.

Lebanese army soldiers run to secure the site of an explosion. Credit: Reuters

The blast, which was heard across the city at around 9:40 am local time, damaged restaurants, coffee shops and offices in downtown Beirut.

"I heard a huge explosion and saw a ball of fire and palls of black smoke. We run out of our offices to the streets," Hassan Akkawi, who works in a finance company nearby, said.

Civil Defence personnel extinguish fires on cars at the site of an explosion in Beirut. Credit: Reuters

Witnesses described seeing glass everywhere, cars on fire and smelling explosives in the air.

Much of Beirut went into lockdown following the explosion, with police blocking off roads across the city.

Read: Ex-minister killed in Beirut bomb blast opposed Assad

A former Lebanese minister killed in a bomb blast in Beirut opposed Syrian president Bashar al-Assad and was a prominent critic of Lebanon's Shi'ite Hezbollah movement.

A tweet posted on his Twitter account less than an hour before the blast accused the Shi'ite movement of trying to take control of the country.

A Lebanon-based al Qaeda-linked group, the Abdullah Azzam Brigades, claimed responsibility for the attack and threatened further attacks unless Iran withdraws forces from Syria, where they have backed Assad's war against rebels.

Chatah was on his way to attend a meeting when the explosion tore through his car.

A Reuters witness at the scene said his car was "totally destroyed, it is a wreck", claiming they found Chatah's identity card, torn and charred inside his car.

Pictures: Explosion hits Lebanese capital Beirut

The Foreign Secretary William Hague has said his thoughts and sympathies are with the people of Lebanon after a bomb blast rocked Beirut this morning.

At least five people, including a former Lebanese minister, are believed to have been killed when the explosion occurred in the downtown business district of the capital.