Video Shows Movement, Explosion of Haret Hreik Booby-Trapped Car
Al-Manar television on Friday broadcast a video showing how the booby-trapped Grand Cherokee exploded Thursday in the middle of a street in Haret Hreik.
The video, which was captured by a security camera in the area, shows how the car's driver was moving forward in a hesitant manner. At a certain point, he swiftly steers left after making a right turn.
As the metal barriers prevented the driver from parking the SUV on the side of the road, according to the TV network, the car suddenly exploded in a ball of fire, creating a big plume of smoke that quickly dissipated due to the bomb's relatively small weight.
A number of citizens fleeing the blast scene also appear in the footage, which shows a school bus moving directly behind the explosives-rigged car.
Al-Manar however said the bus did not contain any students.
As the Hizbullah-affiliated television did not confirm the suicide bomber hypothesis, it noted that this is the most likely scenario.
The blast killed four people and wounded more than 70 others while causing extensive damage to the nearby cars and buildings.
The Lebanese army intelligence believes a young man from the north of the country may have detonated himself in the deadly attack, an official in the area said Friday.
"The father of young Qutaiba al-Satem has been called in by the army intelligence branch in the area, because his 20-year-old son is believed to have detonated himself yesterday in southern Beirut," Noureddine al-Ahmed, mayor of the northern area of Wadi Khaled, told Agence France Presse.
There has been no official confirmation yet that the blast was caused by a suicide attacker, but the authorities are investigating that possibility.
Mayor Ahmed said the suspicions over Satem's alleged role were based on the finding of a personal identification document at the scene of the blast, in the busy Al-Arid Street in Haret Hreik.
Satem's father was currently undergoing DNA tests, the results of which would be compared to the DNA found in the remains of a body found at the scene of the attack, said Ahmed.
Source: Naharnet
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