According to Aljazeera: Two explosions have targeted the Iranian embassy in the Lebanese
capital Beirut, killing up to 23 people, injuring at least 146 and
damaging buildings in the embassy compound.
Lebanese sources told Al Jazeera that the Iranian ambassador was safe, but that the cultural attache, Ebrahim Ansari, was seriously injured. A source inside the embassy told Al Jazeera that earlier reports that he was dead were not true.
The first explosion targeted the embassy gates and was caused by a suicide attacker on a motorcycle. The much larger second blast, caused by a suicide attacker in a 4x4 vehicle, struck yards away about two minutes later.
"The sheer scale of the destruction is an indication as to how powerful the explosives were," reported Al Jazeera's Zeina Khodr from near the site, "with over five buildings damaged by the blasts."
Footage from local news channels showed charred bodies, and flames rising from several vehicles. Aid workers and residents carried away some of the victims on blankets.
"People are roaming the streets looking for loved ones," said Khodr. "The scene is chaotic, and reports here on the ground have the number of casualties rising."
Lebanese sources told Al Jazeera that the Iranian ambassador was safe, but that the cultural attache, Ebrahim Ansari, was seriously injured. A source inside the embassy told Al Jazeera that earlier reports that he was dead were not true.
The first explosion targeted the embassy gates and was caused by a suicide attacker on a motorcycle. The much larger second blast, caused by a suicide attacker in a 4x4 vehicle, struck yards away about two minutes later.
"The sheer scale of the destruction is an indication as to how powerful the explosives were," reported Al Jazeera's Zeina Khodr from near the site, "with over five buildings damaged by the blasts."
Footage from local news channels showed charred bodies, and flames rising from several vehicles. Aid workers and residents carried away some of the victims on blankets.
"People are roaming the streets looking for loved ones," said Khodr. "The scene is chaotic, and reports here on the ground have the number of casualties rising."
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