Beirut car blast kills top security official

A senior security official is among at least eight people killed in a huge car bomb attack in the Lebanese capital Beirut.

“The martyrdom” of Maj Gen Wissam al Hassan, the head of the national police intelligence unit, was announced by The National News Agency last night.

The bomb wounded dozens of others, sheared the balconies off apartment buildings and sent bloodied residents staggering into the streets in the most serious blast the city has seen in more than four years.