5 Die in Beirut as Arms-Laden Car Blows Up

A car packed with mortars, mines and an estimated 45 pounds of TNT exploded near a supermarket in Christian East Beirut today, killing at least five people and injuring 12 others, police said.

The car bomb set one apartment building afire and destroyed 15 cars parked nearby, police said. Fire engines and civil defense squads rushed to the scene.

The Police Department’s top explosives expert, Chief Warrant Officer Youssef Bitar, estimated the car, a blue Honda, was rigged with about 45 pounds of TNT.

Shells Fail to Detonate

Several 82-millimeter mortar shells and anti-tank mines attached to the bomb failed to detonate and were defused, Bitar said. Police said the casualty toll would have been higher had the shells and mines exploded.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility.

Public Health and Telecommunications Minister Joseph Hashem said after inspecting the blast scene that a youth about 20 years old parked the car next to a truck belonging to French truce observers.

“He greeted the observers in French and walked casually away. Fifteen minutes later, his car exploded,” Hashem told reporters. He said the bomber’s nationality was not known.