As they watched a huge mushroom cloud rise over the seaport capital, many who felt the massive explosion in Beirut on Tuesday thought it was a nuclear detonation. Others described the popping and bursting of fireworks and a raging fire that spread to another building, triggering the blast felt kilometers (miles) away.
The explosion collapsed balconies, shattered windows and ripped bricks from buildings, killing at least 70 people and injuring more than 3,000.
A gallery of photos curated by Associated Press photographers captures the horror, devastation and reach of the explosion: Dazed people covered in blood staggering or standing motionless on streets strewn with glass and mortar; distraught men carrying the limp body of an unconscious, or possibly deceased, woman; a man with a bandage-wrapped head, his face half-hidden by blood; motorcycles and Army vehicles weaving through debris-covered streets to rescue and ferry those hurt to hospitals; small clusters of people carrying stretchers bearing the wounded; thick black smoke billowing from the explosion site.
Authorities said they had not determined a cause for the blast. Abbas Ibrahim, chief of Lebanese General Security, said it might have been caused by highly explosive material that was confiscated from a ship some time ago and stored at the port. Local television channel LBC said the material was sodium nitrate.
The explosion also happened amid rising tensions between Israel and the militant Hezbollah group along Lebanons southern border. Israel denied any responsibility.
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