looked n” time it looked kind of pink and light, a little bit white, which is why i knew it wasn't 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 didn't hurt me as much as him because the car glass went into his face. your driver, the windscreen - did the glass break? was able to pull over? how did he manage to drive to safety? the thing is, we didn't know what happened, so the carjust suddenly stop didn't know what happened, so the car just suddenly stop 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. sol 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. it is amazing i am looking at you now. you look ok. but how do you feel? do you feel shaken?” now. you look ok. but how do you feel? do you feel shaken? i do not feel? do you feel shaken? i do not feel 0k whatsoever because it has been intense because, for me, living where i am living right now, we suffered from a lot of car bombs from 2013 to 2015, so once i heard the explosion, i initially thought thatis the explosion, i initially thought that is coming back to us, the wave of car bombs, the wave of attacks, which is on that we want to forget. i felt 0k knowing which is on that we want to forget. ifelt 0k knowing it which is on that we want to forget. i felt 0k knowing it was which is on that we want to forget. ifelt 0k knowing it was not which is on that we want to forget. i felt 0k knowing it was not an attack but i also feel worried there was a lot of injuries and people killed right now. hadi, ijust when

to make sure you are ok. and have you been able to speak to your family? yes, my family, they are living south of us, and i told you, the first impression was there was an explosion in our area, sovereign was calling me, making sure i am 0k. —— everyone was calling me. wejust have to make sure about the casualties and how many people were killed. in the moments after the blast, were you able to get a mobile phone signal? was that easy or difficult? it was very difficult. and i don't think... usually it happens because the exposure and on the very essential or central... everyone was using it, calling, so it made it difficult to get a good connection for our family. and hadi, you said earlier everyone remembers previous car bomb attacks. what is it like in beirut knowing that when you go out for a day, if you're in a taxi, there might be the chance

either of a car bomb or an unexplained explosion? what does that do to you when you live in a city like that? i mean, now, the past two years, it was ok. we did not have any, but from back during the spill—over of the war, we had the spill—over of the war, we had the waves of attacks every weeks, it was... i cannot extend the feeling. it is like you are saying goodbye to yourfamily when it is like you are saying goodbye to your family when you're going out with your friends, you're saying about for the last time. the first time you hearan about for the last time. the first time you hear an explosion, you just wa nt to time you hear an explosion, you just want to call everyone, who did i lose this time? it is a small community, so we all know each other, so in each explosion, you know some of the lost somebody in the attack. and you say it is a smoke unity. you have —— small community. the likelihood, eventually, you all work out that someone you knew that person. exactly. and i

don't know if you know every street in beirut, but you know this area? can you describe it for us, for those who don't know this particular area? when you go there, it is an industrial area. most houses and buildings around it, but there is highways splitting that area from the buildings, but the buildings are not that far, so when you look out on the balconies of that building, you can see the area where the explosion happened. it is not proud usually, there is only the workers there —— it is not crowded usually. it is only crowded on the road, the main road facing it, because it is a highway. i am main road facing it, because it is a highway. iam pretty main road facing it, because it is a highway. i am pretty sure a lot of cars, a lot of people in those cars we re cars, a lot of people in those cars were injured as well because they are very close to that area. hadi, i wonder if you could stay with us. i just want to bring our viewers up—to—date with some information which is been derided to us from jeremy bowman, our bbc middle east

editor stub a huge explosion has —— editor. i'm discreet to read that out. an explosion... smoke rising above the lebanese capital. some local reports have suggested it was an accident at a fireworks storage warehouse. but with tensions high on the border with israel, many other scenarios are being discussed on social media. the is really military does not comment on allegations in four reports, so that is just to bring you up—to—date with the information given byjeremy bowman, our middle east editor —— jeremy bowen. hadi, when you reflect on this, have you been able to speak to other people? and discuss their thoughts of the explosion? you were saying the smoke looks different than car bombs. is that what other people were saying to you as well when you tried to analyse what might

have happened ? when you tried to analyse what might have happened? i called some of my friends, especially the ones who experience explosions before like i did, and we alljust started questioning the smoke. the thing is, other people were saying that because the smoke is different, it could be a new sort of bomb or a new sort of an attack which made people a lot more scared, so people were thinking it is not a car bomb, it is something worse. literally all of beirut, people calling each of the from different areas kilometres away and they were experiencing the same thing, broken glass, buildings shaking, loud explosions, which actually... we were shocked because usually when it happens, just one area, they experience those happenings after an explosion, but this time, it was all of beirut, even areas outside of beirut which made us think it is something worse. and when people start saying it is an industrial place, we thought it was a warehouse explosion quickly.

that was hadi nasrallah with a really rather remarkable eyewitness account of hearing that explosion, of being caught up in that blast. we lead with breaking news from lebanon. a large explosion has rocked the capital beirut. the explosion was felt across large parts of the city, shattering windows of surrounding buildings and sending a huge plume of smoke billowing into the sky. two blasts were heard in the city's port area. lebanese security forces report at least ten people dead. dozens of people are reported to have been wounded. the bbc‘s middle east analyst is sebastian otter. —— sebastian usher. it is something where you usually think of what the cause is. 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 itself, whatever the cause of this was, this isjust 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 into thousand and five. -- in 2005. hariri back into thousand and five. —— in 2005. this week on friday sees the verdict being given in the trial

of those involved in his murder, all of those involved in his murder, all of them linked to hezbollah, so there have been more tensions growing over that. 0bviously obviously this will remind people of that and people will say, is it related to it? everything will be going through people's 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 sta kes so moment in beirut is raising the stakes so immensely that you cannot think ofan 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 could've 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 it's 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 i'm seeing reports from friends, people i know, that hospitals are being overwhelmed by the numbers of people walking in with wounds. sebastian, bring us up—to—date, remind us of that delicate political balance that exists in lebanon between the various sects. yes. it is a system

which has been in place since the end of a long—running war which was finally... it was kind of ended, but never quite, it was never really resolved, back in 1990 after 16 yea rs. resolved, back in 1990 after 16 years. and that leads down the system where each of the powerful sects has one of the major positions of state. the president is a christian, the prime minister is a sunni muslim and the speaker is a. we have seen the wave of protests against the whole system. those protests were motivated over the anger at the political system and its problems and its inability to bring lebanon out of the state it has been all this years, the corruption, the sense that the people always come last, and then that has been usually exacerbated the economic collapse that there is been, which has really

raised in the last few months. the currency now, which used to be painted about 1500 to the dollar, is now running on the black market to 8000 or 9000, so people are having their savings almost complete the wiped out, people not able to get any of their dollars out of banks. and this is the country which relies on imports on dollars, so you are seeing that desperation happening. there are warnings that there could be real hunger on the streets within the next few months if the situation is not rectified in some way. there is not rectified in some way. there isa is not rectified in some way. there is a government in place which no one really trusts, there are deals they are trying to do with the imf to bring money in. that has not worked out as yet. the situation has a government in place which no one really trusts, there are deals they are trying to do with the imf to bring money in. that has not worked out as yet. the situation has slightly stabilised as well is the currency is concerned, but on the streets, that has no effect, so people who had no trust in their politicians, in the elite, have com pletely politicians, in the elite, have completely rejected them now but there is nothing to take them place as yet. you have a country which is

almost leaderless, in economic freefall, whose sects have not been properly reconciled, and there is a paper—thin way of getting people acting in their interest so they keep relatively quiet. that money but others personal connections and favours, are no longer working so you have a very inflammable situation and, here, you have a huge explosion. hopefully, and this is pierce speculation, it will turn out there is not an actor hind this, there is not an actor hind this, there is not an actor hind this, there is just an accident, so there is not an actor hind this, there isjust an accident, so people will not have to deal with the consequences of if this was actually a plan that somebody has made in order to take the country further down the abyss that has been staring at them. as the hope right now. 0ur middle east analyst sebastian

usher speaking to me. video showed smoke rising. a massive explosion sent shock waves tearing through the lebanese capital. the blast happened in the port area. it looked as if the first explosion was followed by another much larger explosion which swept through many nearby buildings. lebanon's health minister said there had been many injuries and widespread damage. i saw the fire but i did not know that was going to be an explosion. we went inside and suddenly i lost

my hearing — i was too close — so i lost my hearing for a few seconds and i knew something was wrong, and then the glass shattered all over the cars around us, the shops, the buildings. glass going down all of the buildings. firefighters are tackling numerous blazes while medical teams are searching for casualties in what is now a full—scale emergency. james robbins, bbc news. i want to take you right now live to beirut, where we can see the scene several hours after the explosion. you can see nightfall following their and the flames and the smoke, which had started pink— white, is changing colours that micro vehicles working to put out the fire. i want to bring you two more lens —— news lines from the reuters news agency. first, according to reuters,

during a tourof agency. first, according to reuters, during a tour of the blast site, the minister was asked by reporters about the cause of the explosion. the minister said, we cannot preempt investigations. it is also worth saying the reuters news agency carries a report from an unnamed israeli official saying israel has nothing to do with the blast in beirut, so that is bring you up—to—date with the latest reports trying to find out the reasons for that explosion. we are joined by a journalist in beirut. good to speak to you. we heard the explosion?” did. it was around ten past 6pm in the evening. there was a sound, a roll of thunder, and it shook our apartment building. like an earthquake going through the building. i walked through the door because, normally, we get helicopters ahead, we get

motorbikes, around us, but this was a different noise. the role of thunder like noise. and then an enormous bang. i was blown back through the door, and now the door is broken and we have no door on our building, and broken glass as well. all around us, people screaming, and we are about a kilometre and a half away from the site, so —— destruction and the spread of this is really quite... just to explain to our viewers, we are showing pictures i believe taken by you in the aftermath. yeah, and so thatis you in the aftermath. yeah, and so that is about a kilometre and a half away. and that gives you... we have seen some away. and that gives you... we have seen some of the damage there and thatis seen some of the damage there and that is a kilometre and a half away. it gives us the sense of the power of this blast felt across the capital city. absolutely. it was

really as if the whole building shook, and that people even, as soon as this happened, my whatsapp filled up as this happened, my whatsapp filled up with messages staying in the mountains this weekend saying, did you see all that? and their buildings were shaking up there. really... and 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 people's mood of the atmosphere? we had a lot of elderly neighbours in the district that we live in, residential district, so people were screaming, everyone was residential district, so people were screaming, everyone was out. residential district, so people were screaming, everyone was out. towards downtown and the centre of the city,

it is... the scale of destruction increases. and people are panicked. it is normally tense. we're going through a from coronavirus. the economy is collapsing. people are already, have already lost a lot of property the economic collapse, so... property the economic collapse, so... it also brings back memories of previous explosions in 2005, when the prime minister was killed in a massive car bomb. elderly residents, that brings back that traumatic memory. there are people, as you said can be used to dealing with unexplained explosions and strikes. i wonder if that makes it easier or more difficult. i think it is both. i think it means that people, they

are used to this. people talk about lebanese resilience, and that is definitely a thing, that is definitely a thing, that is definitely a thing, that is definitely a phenomenon, but people are very angry about that because it should not have to be that way. yes, they are resilient, but they should not have to be so resilient because they have been resilient because they have been resilient through so many traumatic and violent experiences, having happened here. people are in easily thinking this is an israeli jet explosion, a political group —— are immediately thinking. various sources in israel saying that is not the case. people here are aware of

the case. people here are aware of the fact israel... it is not much of a removalfor people here to the fact israel... it is not much of a removal for people here to think of it, and in previous weeks, people have been thinking, the economy is getting bad, israel could hit. that is not confirmed to have happened yet and indeed is looking at was not the case, from all sources, but that is very much a fear when something like this happens. i wonder if this was an explosion on its own, with nothing else, that would be devastating enough. 0n nothing else, that would be devastating enough. on top of not only a pandemic but a year—long political and economic crisis. the people of beirut or having to you with an awful lot at the moment. absolutely. to give you an example, the currency collapse, the currency

is collapse by more than 70% this year. used to buy, for example, crude, it doubled, tripled. people lost their savings. businesses lost jobs, and now having something else, it will be very, very difficult to see how people are going to struggle to get through this —— people are going to struggle to get through this. it is adding pressure people already living in stress. of course. lizzie porter, thanks very much for joining us. for more, i'mjoined by our correspondent, or

journalist, lina sinjab. bring us up to date. even now, there are ambulances going to wear the explosion took place, the government is saying that there are so many cases, so many is saying that there are so many cases, so many casualties, we here also reports many of the hospitals are filled with cases, but it is ha rd to are filled with cases, but it is hard to tell at the moment, of course, of the number or of the volume of the damages that this blast has caused. even from where i live, less than seven minutes drive from the port, my building was shaking when the explosion took place. my doors to my partner were forced to open. i felt it was an earthquake, the building was going to collapse —— the doors to my apartment. and that is what you hear from many people. those closer to the port, they had severe damages in

their flats and apartments, but so far, it is hard to tell what is the cause of this explosion. the government is saying there was an explosion in a warehouse, of explosives, but the volume that was heard all over the city and even miles away from the city, as the guest earlier was suggestion, even in the mountains, it was really beyond people's understanding. it brings a lot of bad memories for the lebanese. this country has lived a lot of turmoil in the past. of course, the sound of the explosion brought the memory of the explosion in 2005 where a car exposure and kill the former prime minister, rafic hariri. everybody is worried here, but it is hard to tell what was the cause behind this explosion. briefly, or the emergency services

able to cope? so far, they are doing their best. the medical system here, especially the red cross, the lebanese red cross, are highly equipped. they are mostly volunteers who go out. they are already going but it is hard to tell about the value met the moment. we are still almost two hours away —— the volume, whether they are going to be able to cope. we are being fed information minute by minute, so it is hard to make a judgement, and assessment at the moment, but government, the medical system, they are all on alert to help cope with this situation at a time the country is already suffering a lot because of the coronavirus and the economy crisis. lina sinjab, our colleague and correspondents in beirut, thank you very much. we will keep andi and i am what is happening in beirut

in the aftermath of that unexpended explosion in an industrial area in beirut. my colleague ros atkins has continuing coverage here on bbc news. this is ros atkins as we continue bbc news coverage of this huge explosion in the lebanese capital, beirut. this is like pictures coming to us at the moment. as you can see, night has fallen but the area affected is being lit up by multiple fires which continue to burn, and with the light of those fires, you can just burn, and with the light of those fires, you canjust about burn, and with the light of those fires, you can just about make out some of the damage to buildings and there will be many, many damaged buildings, because the scale of this explosion is quite extraordinary. if you have not seen the pictures, let me show you what happened a little bit earlier. i did a lot of us, we first saw this, could not quite believe it was real, such was its scale, but these pictures have been verified. you can see a fire burning

there, already of significance size, and then, suddenly, a far extraordinary moment. and as you can see, that explosion clearly affecting a huge area around what is the port area of beirut. we know that every has been completely cordoned off now by the authorities. young people going in our emergency services —— the only people going in our emergency services, and people in the area. as such, it is hard to get information as to what is happening in that port every of the city. we know there are suggestions in local media that a warehouse housing explosives was in that location and just before the particularly large explosion, before that, you can see a series of smaller explosions and there is some speculation as to what has caused that. we don't know what has caused that. we don't know what has caused that and if you have spent any time

on facebook, on twitter, on any form of social media, you won't have to look hard for people claiming they perhaps can explain what we have seen perhaps can explain what we have seen here, but this implicit in fermi to say at this stage is you do not know what has caused this is —— the simplest thing for me to sales we do not know it is caused that. we have no statement from the lebanese authorities and we had the bbc are not ina authorities and we had the bbc are not in a position to play what happened either. nonetheless, the scale of this means whatever caused it, there's going to be loss of life and many injuries, and that has already been confirmed. the lebanese health minister has put out a statement talking about high numbers of injuries, we know one health official speaking to the reuters news agency has talked about ten bodies being taken to hospital, not able to confirm that figure here at the bbc. as ever, in the aftermath of huge unexpected moments like this, there is an enormous amount of information around, but it takes some time to be clear on what has happened and what hasn't happened.

the context of all of this is this is an incredibly sensitive time in lebanon. for three reasons. this week is particularly sensitive. we are two days away from a verdict in are two days away from a verdict in a trial over the killing of the former lebanese prime minister rafic hariri. that was in 2005. the verdict is coming on friday from a un tribunaland we verdict is coming on friday from a un tribunal and we know four hezbollah suspects are going to hear their verdicts, though they are not currently present. that is one reason that there is sensitivity. the second reason is the extra ordinary political and economic crisis we have seen playing out in lebanon in the last 12 months. there is multiple problems in the lebanese economy and we have seen huge street protests over that and that has led to huge political pressure on the government, as you can imagine. the third part of this is covid—19. we've seen many lebanese dr sandy

lebanese health system is just simply not coping any more with the pressure by the pressure —— coping with the pressure being applied by the virus. the let us speak to the bbc‘s lina sinjab, who can help us cover this story. tell us can help us cover this story. tell us what is happening in the port area of the city. i felt it here at home in my own building when the explosion actually happened. first it felt like an earthquake, my whole building was shaking and only 7—8 minutes drive away from the port, then the explosion happened and all the windows exploded. there's some announcement that the explosion was at the port area. since then, the

government, the ambulances, the medical system here is rushing