Explosion rocks Christian area of Beirut

An explosion rocked a Christian neighbourhood of Beirut today, security officials and local media reported.

A leading Lebanese TV station said the blast targeted a vehicle on a street in Hazmieh, on the Christian eastern edge of the city, killing three. Video from the scene showed a huge plume of black smoke rising from street.

The explosion could be heard across central Beirut.

The private Future TV station reported that a "security convoy" was targeted, and that at least three people were killed. It did not identify who was in the convoy.

Several cars could be seen burning in a blackened area some 20 metres wide, near a highway overpass. Firefighters struggled to put out the flames.

There was no official word on casualties, but TV footage showed a body slumped behind the wheel of a delivery truck that was ripped apart by the force of the explosion.

It was not immediately known whether the explosion was placed on the side of the road or whether it was packed in a car, nor what was the target.

Lebanon has been hit by a series of explosions, some of them political assassinations, amid a deepening 14-month political crisis. The explosion came a day after a labour strike that was largely peaceful, and 10 days after a car bomb aimed at a US Embassy car killed three bystanders.