A diesel tank exploded inside a building in Beirut last night, killing at least four people and injuring more than 30.
It was not immediately clear what triggered the blast in the basement of a bakery, which was reportedly heard across the Lebanese capital.
Firefighters quickly put out the blaze and later helped building residents stuck in their apartments by the fire to climb down ladders.
Lebanese troops were also deployed to the western neighborhood of Tariq Jadidah and pushed back onlookers.
A Beirut TV station said more than 30 people were hurt and a medical source said three children were in hospital being treated for burns.
The Red Cross said at least one person was critically wounded while several others were treated for smoke inhalation.
The explosion came two months after a massive blast at Beirut’s port killed nearly 200 people, injured about 6,500 and caused billions of dollars worth of damage.
Nearly 3,000 tonnes of ammonium nitrate, a highly explosive chemical used in fertilisers, exploded on August 4, sending shockwaves throughout the city.
It is still not known what ignited the material, which had been stored at the facility for six years.
More than two dozen people, many of them port and customs officials have been detained since the blast, which experts describe as one of the biggest non-nuclear explosions in history.
In other parts of Lebanon, wildfires erupted in forests amid a heatwave hitting the Mediterranean country.
Some of the fires broke out in villages along the border with Israel. The state-run news agency said a mine exploded in the Wazzani area because of the fire. There were no casualties.
In neighbouring Syria, wildfires have killed two people and caused breathing problems for about 20 others in the coastal province of Latakia, the health ministry said.
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