Lebanon: Bomb Explodes outside BLOM Bank in Beirutok

A bomb exploded Sunday evening outside a branch of the BLOM Bank in Beirut’s Verdun area injuring two people.

Lebanese army units have enforced a large security cordon around the scene of the explosion, keeping civilians at bay for fear of falling glass and as a precaution against the possibility of a second booby trap, the Lebanese National News Agency (NNA) reported.

Meanwhile, forensic scanning operations have begun within the vicinity of the blast, including inside of BLOM Bank building, NNA correspondent reported.

Interior Minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq announced shortly after the blast that the explosion caused no casualties. But the Lebanese Red Cross said later that two people were injured, one of them lightly.

The minister said the bomb was inside a suitcase that was placed outside the bank.

An AFP correspondent saw almost all the entire glass facade of a branch of the BLOM Bank, one of the country’s largest, blown out, with debris littering the ground.