2 suicide bombers hit southern Beirut, at least 37 dead
PUBLISHED Thu, November 12, 2015 - 12:05pm EST
Credit: LBC
At least 37 people have been killed and more than 180 others have been injured after two suicide bombers blew themselves up in a commercial area in the Lebanese capital of Beirut. (more)
The attack happened just before 6 p.m. local time when two people blew themselves up on al-Husseiniya Street in the southern suburb of Burj el-Barajneh, a stronghold of Hezbollah, in the vicinity of the Mansour Shopping Center and the General Security premises. A third attacker fled the scene while a fourth was killed before detonating his suicide vest, LBC reported.
The Lebanese Red Cross reported that at least 37 people had been killed in the nearly simultaneous explosions, which also injured 181 others, of whom some remain in a critical condition. An AFP photographer reported extensive damage to buildings around the site of the blast and saw bodies inside some of the nearby shops.
Major General Mohammed Khair, the Secretary General of the Supreme Rescue Council, called on local residents to stay away from the site of the attack to allow rescue workers to do their jobs. In the hour after the attack, security forces had fired shots into the air in an effort to disperse large crowds of people who had gathered at the scene, LBC reported.
After Thursday's deadly attack, the Lebanese parliament held a minute of silence to honor the victims, after which Speaker Nabih Berri postponed the legislative session. "They want to hamper Lebanon and we must not allow this disruption," the speaker was quoted as saying by state-run media.
Other details are not yet available.
This is a breaking news alert. Please check back or follow @BNONews on Twitter as details become available. If you want to receive breaking news alerts by email, click here to sign up. You can also like us on Facebook by clicking here.
http://bnonews.com/news/index.php/news/id2457
