BEIRUT - East Beirut was rocked by a huge explosion Saturday, the third blast in a Christian quarter in the past week, that police said was caused by a car bomb.
"It was a car bomb explosion," an officer said.
Five buildings and shops in the area were in flames.
"It's an apocalyptic sight," said one witness.
The blast occurred at 9.30 pm local time and resonated throughout the capital, shaking buildings on hills to the east of the capital.
A large cloud of black smoke was visible from the Baabda hill which overlooks the capital, residents said.
Fire engines and ambulances could be seen driving to the scene with sirens wailing.
The explosion happened after two bomb attacks in Lebanon in the last week.
A blast on March 19 in a northern suburb of Beirut wounded 11 people while another blast on Wednesday killed three people in Kaslik, 20 kilometers north of the capital.
Beirut has been extremely tense since the assassination February 14 of former prime minister Rafiq Hariri, an attack that sharpened a rift between the pro-Syrian government and the anti-Syrian opposition.