Four killed as US diplomatic car hit in Beirut blast

Beirut: An explosion targeted a US Embassy vehicle on Tuesday in northern Beirut, killing four Lebanese and injuring a local embassy employee, an American official said.

The US State Department said no Americans were hurt in the blast.

"There were no American diplomats or American citizens in the car at the time. There were four Beirut residents who do not work for the embassy who were killed in the blast," said State Department spokesman Sean McCormack.

He said US Embassy security personnel were looking into the circumstances of the blast and examining current US protection for people working for the embassy.

Security sources in Beirut had put the toll at three dead and 16 wounded, including an American passenger, in the explosion which hit the armoured US four-by-four vehicle in a Christian neighbourhood in the north of the capital.

The blast, which the Lebanese security sources said had targeted the US diplomatic vehicle, occurred as President George W. Bush visited Saudi Arabia as part of a week-long Middle East tour. Ambulances and fire engines rushed to the scene.

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A column of smoke rose into the sky and was visible across the city. Television pictures showed blackened cars and twisted metal alongside fallen masonry from nearby buildings. Rescue workers covered a corpse with plastic sheeting. Lebanese and US security officials were at the scene.

Two passengers of a car behind the US vehicle were killed. The third victim had been walking nearby.

A senior Lebanese security official, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with military rules, said the explosion was in the predominantly Christian Doura-Qarantina neighbourhood.