NNA - The Lebanese Army Headquarters - Directorate of Orientation issued the following statement:



"Around 4:06 p.m. on Thursday, an explosion quivered Al Arid street in Beirut's Haret Hreik region, causing a number of casualties and heavy material damages. The army forces deployed in the region interfered and cordoned off the area as the forensic evidence units rushed to the scene along with a few experts, who began inspecting the site to determine the type and circumstances of the blast's occurrence."



The army also called on citizens to avoid massing in and near the blast's spot by fears of another explosion and to facilitate the work of apparatuses in transporting the wounded to hospitals.



====================L.W.