Your trusted source

The death toll from a huge explosion that rocked Beirut on Tuesday has reached 100, the Lebanese Red Cross has said, and more victims are under the rubble.

The organisation told Lebanese TV the Red Cross was coordinating with the health ministry for morgues to take victims because hospitals were overwhelmed, The Independent reported.

On Wednesday morning, smoke was still rising from the port where a towering grain silo was shattered.

Major streets in the city were littered with debris and damaged vehicles, and building facades were blown out.

The explosion struck with the force of a 3.5 magnitude earthquake, according to Germany's geosciences centre GFZ, and was heard and felt as far away as Cyprus, more than 180 miles across the Mediterranean.

It sparked further fires, overturned cars and blew out thousands of windows and doors.

Interior Minister Mohammed Fahmi told a local TV station it appeared the blast was caused by the detonation of more than 2,700 tons of ammonium nitrate that had been stored in a warehouse at the dock since being confiscated from a cargo ship in 2014.