A large fire, followed by multiple explosions, has erupted at a Palestinian refugee camp in southern Lebanon. The incident was reportedly centered at a weaponry stockpile allegedly belonging to the Hamas militant group.
The fire erupted at the Burj el-Shemali camp located just outside the southern Lebanese city of Tyre late on Friday. The camp is the second-largest settlement of 12 Palestinian refugee camps scattered across the country.
Unverified footage from the scene circulating online shows a building engulfed in flames, with a subsequent explosion sending a massive mushroom-shaped plume of smoke into the air. The shockwave apparently broke windows in buildings nearby as well.
أنفجار مستودع أسلحة في مخيم البرج الشمالي في صور pic.twitter.com/ctfdbjHLsD
Several smaller explosions were also heard during the blaze, another video from the scene purports to show.
#عاجل|| إنفجار كبير في مخيم البرج الشمالي للاجئين الفلسطينيين من #لبنان، الله يلطف بأهلنا هناك.. pic.twitter.com/BrOoyJYDng
The fire prompted an evacuation of nearby buildings, with multiple emergency crew deployed to battle the flames.
The building affected was reportedly housing a weaponry depot, run by Hamas. Several people were killed and injured as a result of the incident, the state-funded National News Agency reported, without giving an exact tally.
