'It hurts': Beirut resident on blast aftermath

"It is painful, the extent of it all, it hurts and makes me sad", he told Reuters while walking through a street full of debris in Beirut's central district this Wednesday (August 5).

The blast at port warehouses storing highly explosive material was the most powerful in years in Beirut, already reeling from an economic crisis and a surge in coronavirus infections.

Officials did not say what caused the blaze that set off the blast.

A security source and local media said it was started by welding work being carried out on a hole in the warehouse.

So far at least 100 people were killed and nearly 4,000 injured.

Officials expects the toll to rise.