Massive blast rocks Beirut's port area, causing 100s of casualties and widespread damage

A massive blast rocked downtown Beirut on Tuesday, flattening much of the port, damaging buildings and blowing out windows and doors as a giant mushroom cloud rose above the capital.

Lebanese Red Cross official Georges Kettaneh said there hundreds of casualties, both dead and wounded.

A civil defence official on the scene of the blast said his men had evacuated dozens to hospitals and that there were still bodies inside the port, many of them under debris.

An Associated Press photographer near the port saw people lying injured on the ground, and hospitals called for blood donations.

Kilometres from the scene of the blast, balconies were knocked down, ceilings collapsed and windows were shattered.

WATCH: Explosions at port in Lebanon's capital Tuesday afternoon:

Online video showed a column of smoke rising from the port area from what appeared to be an initial explosion, followed by a massive blast that sent up a mushroom cloud and a shock wave over the city.

Lebanon's state news agency NNA and two security sources said the blasts had occurred in the port area where there are warehouses housing explosives.

Video taken by residents showed a fire raging at the port, sending up a giant column of smoke, illuminated by flashes of what appear to be fireworks. Local TV stations reported that a fireworks warehouse was involved.

The fire then appeared to catch at a nearby building, triggering a more massive explosion, sending up a mushroom cloud and a shock wave over the city.

"It was like a nuclear explosion," said Walid Abdo, a 43-year-old school teacher in the neighborhood of Gemayzeh near Beirut.

Charbel Haj, who works at the port, said it started as small explosions like firecrackers, then the huge blast erupted and he was thrown off his feet. His clothes were torn.

Tweet from CBC News contributor Rebecca Collard:

WATCH | Rebecca Collard reports from near the explosion: 

Several kilometres from the port, balconies were knocked down, windows shattered, streets were covered with glass and bricks and lined with wrecked cars. Motorcyclists picked their way through traffic, carrying the injured.

It was stunning even for a city that has been shaken by civil war, suicide bombings and bombardment by Israel.

Dozens of ambulances ferried the injured from the port area, where the wounded lay on the ground, Associated Press staff at the scene said. 

The head of the Lebanese Red Cross told local TV there were hundreds of casualties although many were superficial wounds from broken glass.

Time of tumult

The explosions come at a time of tumult. Lebanon's economic and financial crisis poses the most significant threat to the country since a devastating 15-year civil war ended in 1990. The highly indebted government is facing a rapid inflation, soaring unemployment and poverty, made worse by the coronavirus pandemic.

Dozens of Lebanese protesters tried to storm the Ministry of Energy on Tuesday, angered by prolonged power cuts as the country grapples with the crippling economic crisis.

Security forces pushed back against the angry protesters, chasing away some who breached the ministry perimeter. Scuffles ensued as protesters pushed the metal barricade and said they plan to set up a sit-in at the ministry.

For decades, the country has struggled with power cuts and a huge public debt for the national electricity company, which racks up a deficit of nearly $2 billion a year.

But rationing has increased since June, and became so severe that residents reported only a couple of hours of electricity per day in some areas.

Lebanon's problems are rooted in years of mismanagement.

Tensions heightened between Hezbollah, Israel

On the political front, there has been heightened tension following a recent Israeli airstrike that killed a Hezbollah fighter in Syria and anticipation that the militant Lebanese group would retaliate.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday warned Hezbollah and others after Israeli forces said they thwarted an infiltration attempt from Syria by suspected militants.

The Israeli military announced late Monday that it had struck targets in Syria after the militants tried to plant explosives in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights. Israel struck the four suspects, who were believed to have been killed.

Netanyahu, who toured a military base on Tuesday, said Israel would not hesitate to take further action.

"We hit a cell and now we hit the dispatchers. We will do what is necessary in order to defend ourselves. I suggest to all of them, including Hezbollah, to consider this," he said.

Last week, Israel also said it thwarted an infiltration attempt from Lebanon by Hezbollah militants, setting off one of the heaviest exchanges of fire along the volatile Israel-Lebanon frontier since a 2006 war between the bitter enemies.

Israel considers Hezbollah to be its most immediate threat. Since battling Israel to a stalemate during a month-long war in 2006, Hezbollah has gained more battlefield experience fighting alongside the Syrian government in that country's bloody civil war.