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 to help rescue people. there are reports of many casualties. so far it is hard to tell what the reasons are behind the explosion, we know the government is saying there was an explosive warehouse, which is the cause of the explosion. but actually it was so massive that the whole city heard it, even people up in the mountain heard the explosion or even felt it, depending on how close they are from the area. and we have seen some reports of a possible second explosion close to the former prime minister's residence in beirut. any knowledge on whether that happened oi’ knowledge on whether that happened or not? the early reports that came out suggested the explosion took place at the residence, but they're confirming that the explosion actually took place at the port

area, actually took place at the port area , you actually took place at the port area, you can see it on television, there was a huge explosion and fire, big smoke covering a big part of the port. it is hard to confirm that there was another explosion at the moment, but all we know so far is that this was the explosion that hit the port. it was felt as if two phases, you can feel the whole building shaking, that's what eve ryo ne building shaking, that's what everyone felt across the city. then it was the big hit with a big explosion that rocked the city. it was a few minutes or seconds between the two actions, but that's all we heard. since then, all we can hear the ambulances rushing to the port area, no more than this. is going to ask you about the emergency services. as i'm talking to you, we are looking at an afp live feed

coming to the bbc. we can see firefighters spring water in the direction of one of the fires. presumably there is a vast operation going on now into the night to contain this fire? it seems so because as i said, the explosion was so because as i said, the explosion was so massive, because as i said, the explosion was so massive, everyone because as i said, the explosion was so massive, everyone i talk to, even myself, it brought the memory of the big car bomb that hit an area not too far from the city centre, also close to the port, and killed the former prime minister in 2005. everyone i've talked to since the explosion happened, it brought to them that memory. it was a serious explosion and i'm sure the damage was huge. i've spoken to many friends who are living not so far away from the port, their buildings, all the windows were shattered. not too far from all the windows were shattered. not too farfrom me, all the

all the windows were shattered. not too far from me, all the windows we re too far from me, all the windows were shattered. some people, they we re were shattered. some people, they were inside their apartments which we re were inside their apartments which were damaged, all because of the scale of the explosions. so of course the damage will be huge. don't forget that this is a port area, there's lots of containers and movement. we are coming out of five days of lockdown today is a working day, everyone is allowed to be out, so day, everyone is allowed to be out, so there's lots of movement in the area, so i'm sure there'll be a huge number of casualties. of course it is hard to confirm now the exact figures and numbers as the explosion happened two hours ago, but what we are learning about is just an estimate of what's happening. thank you very much, lena send job live with us from but it will be many, many hours if not days before we get a clear picture. what we can say with certainty as there's been a vast explosion in the port area of

beirut. there's a major operation going on now to quell a number of fires. if you want further explanation, see the live page on the bbc website. you're watching bbc news with ben brown. let's recap our breaking news this evening: there's been a huge explosion in the lebanese capital of beirut. the blast happened in the port around two hours ago, rocking the whole city. it shattered windows over a large area. many people thought they'd been in an earthquake. hospitals are said to be overwhelmed by casualties, some reports talking of as many as 500 people being injured. firefighters are tackling numerous blazes, and eyewitnesses say that balconies collapsed, people we re say that balconies collapsed, people were left trapped under the rubble. government officials say a very high number of people have been injured, and it is feared that there will be

and it is feared that there will be a high death toll as well. above is dust bbc producer in beirut has been speaking of massive destruction at the port of beirut, with bodies everywhere, shipping containers mashed and overturned. it is not sure what caused the explosion, which could be felt for miles around. these are life pictures now, the aftermath of those two separate explosions —— live pictures now. the latest casualty reports coming into us latest casualty reports coming into us here on bbc news, saying there could be several hundred people who have been injured and taken to hospitals in the city. the head of the lebanese red cross is saying there is no exact figure of how many people were injured, but many are still trapped in their homes within the area of the blast. some people have been rescued by boat. there's one source in beirut saying that they are treating in one hospital

more than 500 injuries. they can't ta ke more than 500 injuries. they can't take any more casualties. many of the operations are taking place in that hospital, and the hospital is appealing for blood donations. let's get this report now from james robbins. 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. we're just hearing that the lebanese prime minister has declared a day of national mourning in lebanon on wednesday after these explosions. it seems there were two explosions but one of them was absolutely enormous, as you saw there injames's piece. 0ur correspondent in beirut has been describing to us than moment that she felt the blast. i was here in my apartment and the whole building was

shaking, it felt like an earthquake. i felt like the building was about to collapse. just a few minutes after, there was a big explosion, all the doors in my flat went open. we started trying to call each other and check on people, and the phone network was down. immediately after we heard that there was the explosion that hit the area of beirut‘s port. many buildings around the area had their windows shattered, some huge damage there. of course the government is saying that there are many casualties and their hospitals are filled up with people. so far, we are not able to tell what the causes are, the government is saying that the explosion took place at the port at an explosives warehouse, but it is ha rd to an explosives warehouse, but it is hard to tell the moment what are the real causes behind this big explosion. it certainly shook the whole city, many people heard it from miles away in the city. and it

was really something that nobody felt before, it reminded people of 2005 where there was a big explosion that took the life of the former prime minister. lena many people in the city state they felt it was like an earthquake. this is the aftermath, you can see the night scape in beirut, flames and smoke, and carnage after that enormous explosion. it seems there we re enormous explosion. it seems there were two explosions, but one as we saw earlier was particularly massive. now the us state department says it is following closely the reports of the explosion. it is standing ready to offer all assistance, says the us state department. the latest casualty figures— there are no casualty the macro detailed casualty figures, but

the head of the lebanese red cross is talking about hundreds of people having to be taken to hospitals, and many trapped in their homes that have been damaged by the blast. also we are hearing reports of ten people having being killed, clearly that death toll may rise. james reynolds has been speaking to one night witness a short time ago. ididn't i didn't know what was happening, i was blind. i was trying to hide. i'm bleeding a bit from my feet, i'm 0k though. yes, it all the buildings around me are just fully — all the glass around me has been destroyed, all the doors are broken. i mean, this took me back to the memories of 2006 when israel was bombing lebanon, and i thought i was going

to die. ijust had the same feeling today. you thought you were going to die? yes, this is the feeling i had. imean, i die? yes, this is the feeling i had. i mean, i think many people had the same feeling. 0ne neighbour, i mean, people are just devastated, and with the current issues going on, it's a messed up situation. in the moments after you heard the explosion and all the glass broke, did you all go out to the streets? tell me what you did in the 5—10 minutes after, all of you? i live on the 11th floor so i was thinking if there bombing the building, then there is no reason to run away anyway on the 11th floor, soi run away anyway on the 11th floor, so ijust run away anyway on the 11th floor, so i just sat run away anyway on the 11th floor, so ijust sat in the corner remembering what happened in 2006 with me. i don't know, maybe it's

bad luck living in this country. and mohammed, obviously we continue to try to work out what happened, what caused the explosion. it is interesting that you say as soon as you all heard the explosion, it brought back those memories of previous explosions in beirut? that's correct. and how old are you now, if i can ask you? what do you do? i'm 39, i'm an ngo, we work with technology and human rights. that's what i do. understood, and when you we re what i do. understood, and when you were down on the street, did you talk to each other and try to find out what is happening? what was the atmosphere like in the moments after the explosion? i didn't go on the street, i live on the 11th floor, so i went onto the rooftop. i'm so

sorry secular upstairs there was lots of damage. we didn't know what happened, we heard something like an explosion in the court, which was 200 metres away from where we live —— port. an update on what may have caused this explosion, or two explosions, according to some reports. we are just curing from lebanon's internal security chief, who's been quoted by reuters. he says the blast in the port area of beirut happened in a section of the port that was housing highly explosive materials. and speaking to reporters, he wouldn't speculate about the cause of the explosion. he said, "we can't print investigations." he said it happened

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 lebanon's 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