that was journalist lizzie porter in beirut there.y 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. let's 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 bbc‘s middle east a nalyst the port of beirut. the bbc‘s 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 eve

to thejournalist lizzie porter, who witnessed that explosion in beirut.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

lizzie porter, thanks very much for joining us.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 o

lizzie, i really appreciate your time this morning, lizzie porter and jackson allers, i'm glad in the of the devastation, a city, so good to speak to them and best wishes to them too. you're watching bbc brea kfast. them too. you're watching bbc breakfast. let's see what is coming up breakfast. let's see what is coming up later on as we find out how the 75th anniversary of vj day will be remembered and we will hear the experience of one veteran and speak to historian dan snow. we will talk about that. it is 8:31am. there is a little bit of rain and perhaps some sunshine. that's not a bad description. quite a bit of cloud around. certainly some rain coming your way if you haven't already got it through the course of the day. we have rain across northern england and southern scotland. to the south, west sussex, we have blue skies, as we have across the channel islands. the forecast today, rain in the north and west. brightening up elsewhere. the winds are going to be a bit lighter than they were yesterday. the rain that came yesterday was courtesy of this weather front. if we follow it

well, we arejoined now by lizzie porter, a journalist based in beirut. are from beirut, but you must be seeing, hearing, living stories like that all day, every day right now? thank you, yeah. indeed that really does capture how things are in this part of beirut at the moment. people are allowed on the street helping each other, really grassroots efforts and small local ngos doing a lot. my house was damaged partially and we have had dozens damaged partially and we have had d oze ns of damaged partially and we have had dozens of people come round to the door saying, do you need anything? what can we give you? 0ffering food. that is one very small snapshot of how people are reacting to this. and people are sort of angered but not unsurprised by the lack of government response. people are saying that the response from the municipality and government authorities is very, very little or nonexistent, in comparison to what is literally people with brooms coming around and sweeping up and trying to help and patch people's lives back together. so most of the eff

that was lizzie porter from that was lizzie porterfrom beirut.e pictures from the lebanese capital. you can see the lebanese capital. you can see the fire in the industrial area. you canjust the fire in the industrial area. you can just about here some sirens there, suggesting that the emergency relief effort, there's a closer shot of it there, will take some time to conclude. it is worth saying that the lebanese president is calling a meeting of, an urgent meeting, of the defence counsel as investigations go on as to the cause of that explosion and we will review any political updates from lebanon as soon as we get them —— the defence council. i heard from eyewitness hadi nasrallah earlier in that i heard from eyewitness hadi nasrallah earlier. you heard a little bit of him in that report from james robbins. he lives close to where the blast took place. let's hear more of what he told me. so basically i was in the taxi, it is an area still on the coast, so i can still see what's going on. i saw the fire but i didn't know there was going to be an