Explosion in Achrafieh

I was sitting on the couch watching TV when an unmistakable, all-too-familiar earsplitting crack shook through the apartment. I ran out to the balcony, where I saw black smoke and spits of flame coming up from around Mar Mitr. Too impatient to wait for the news, I grabbed a sweater and ran down with some friends to see what was going on -- and most importantly, where the bombing had struck.

A brief recap for anyone who somehow doesn't know yet: the bomb, estimated at around 15 kg, was placed under a car in a residential parking lot next to the ABC mall garage and the Zahrat al Ehsan school. The car seems to have been parked directly next to ABC.

So far, one woman is confirmed dead in an apartment building next to the lot. There's a lot of damage, but none seems too major, thankfully. Glass everywhere, doors, windows and shutters blown off nearby buildings, etc. Part of one of our doors was blasted off, but otherwise no damage here.

I'm really too tired to have much to say right now, but I did take some pictures down at the scene, which I posted on my blog:

http://chercheusedor.blogspot.com/2007/05/photos-from-todays-explosion-in.html

Such a long day. I just hope things are going to quiet down, not heat up even more.