A picture taken with a smart phone shows the scene of a car bomb explosion which went off in front of the main government administration building in Hermel, a Lebanese town near the border with Syria, on January 16, 2014. (Photo: AFP)
Updated at 11:55am: A powerful car bomb exploded on Thursday in downtown Hermel in eastern Lebanon's Bekaa valley, killing several people and injuring scores, the Lebanese health ministry said.
The blast went off in front of the main government administration building in Hermel, a security official told AFP.
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| Martyrs, Wounded as Car Bombing Rocks Hermel |
Lebanese Red Cross Operations Director Georges Kettaneh told the Lebanese National News Agency that three people had been killed and 43 injured - four of them critically. However, numerous media reports seemed to indicate that the death toll would rise.
The health ministry has called on all hospitals in the Bekaa to receive casualties from the blast.
The attack took place at 8:55 am, just as people were going to work," the security official told AFP on condition of anonymity.
Initial reports emerged saying the car involved in the explosion was a stolen Kia.
Lebanon's caretaker Prime Minister, Najib Mikati, condemned the attack, calling it an act of terror. "Let us unite all together to protect our nations and its citizens and keep the hands of evil away from our Lebanon," he said.
Speaking earlier to local television channel, al-Manar, Lebanese Interior Minister Marwan Charbel said a suicide bomber was likely to have carried out the attack.
"We have no confirmation yet, but we should know the truth in the next hour. Given the human remains in the car and next to it, it seems like a suicide attack, but we will not rush to judgement," said Charbel.
Witnesses said the attack, which damaged buildings around Hermel's main square, shocked residents in the middle of the town, a bustling commercial, residential and administrative area.
"The explosion was huge. People are really scared and upset. It took place just as people were on their way to work and to go about their daily business in the middle of town," said Ali Shamas, the headmaster of a Hermel college.
"There was a lot of smoke rising from the scene."
Shamas also said the security forces and army troops deployed in the square shortly after the attack.
Military court judge Saqr Saqr issued a subpoena to the army intelligence and military police to inspect the scene and carry out preliminary investigations, the NNA reported.
Lebanon has witnessed multiple major car bomb attacks since July 2013. On January 2, an explosion in Beirut's southern suburb of Haret Hreik killed four people, less than a week after a car bomb in downtown Beirut killed eight people, including former Finance Minister Mohammed Shatah.
(Al-Akhbar, AFP)
Al-Manar obtained some photos for the blast which took place in the eastern city of Hermel.
