Car Bomb Kills 60, Injures 200 in East Beirut

A car bomb exploded near a school in East Beirut today, killing 60 people, injuring about 200 and creating a wall of flame that consumed two apartment complexes and threatened victims trapped in the rubble.

On the other side of the divided capital, Palestinian gunners opened up with a rocket barrage on Shia Muslims in the third day of fighting for three refugee camps. Four more deaths were reported, bringing the death toll for the three-day battle to more than 120.

The car bomb attack occurred in the busy Sin El Fil neighborhood of mostly Christian East Beirut during the noon hour--just as children were being dismissed from a school down the street. Christian Voice of Lebanon radio said children were among the victims.

Police and hospital sources said 60 people were killed and that at least 200 were wounded.

Cremated by Flames

Men, women and children were killed instantly by the force of the explosion, then cremated by onrushing flames that barreled along the street for more than 200 yards, setting dozens of cars and several apartment buildings ablaze, witnesses said.

The blast from the bomb--estimated to contain nearly 450 pounds of TNT--hurled cars and bodies onto balconies and sent a wall of fire racing through the neighborhood like a tidal wave. Two six-story apartment complexes were gutted and a number of buildings were heavily damaged.

No one claimed responsibility for the bombing, and experts were unable to determine immediately whether the bomb detonated as planned or went off accidentally.

It was the bloodiest car bombing in Beirut since March 8, when more than 80 people were killed and 250 wounded in a Shia Muslim suburb.

Opened Fire on Shias

Shortly after today’s blast, Palestinian gunners in the hills east of Beirut opened fire on Shia areas of the capital with rockets in a campaign to end the Shia Muslim Amal militia’s siege of three refugee camps.

A spokesman for American University Hospital in West Beirut said at least four dead and 56 wounded were brought in from the Shia neighborhoods and camps. Other hospitals said they were too busy to provide casualty figures.

The rocket barrage apparently was launched in response to new Amal attacks on the Sabra, Chatilla and Borj el Brajne refugee camps. The Amal attacks ended an uneasy cease-fire arranged to allow Red Cross workers to remove the dead and wounded.

Tuesday’s battles, Page 5.