A massive explosion in the Lebanese capital, Beirut, has killed at least 70 people and injured more than 4,000 others, the health minister said.
The video shows smoke billowing from the fire, then mushroom clouds following an explosion in the city port.
Officers blamed explosives stored in the warehouse for six years.
President Michel Aoun wrote in a tweet that it was "unacceptable" that 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate was stored unsafe.
An investigation is underway to find the exact trigger of the explosion. Lebanon's Supreme Defense Council says those responsible will face the "maximum punishment" possible.
The hospital is said to be overcrowded and many buildings were destroyed.
President Aoun declared a three-day mourning period, saying the government would release an emergency fund of 100 billion lira (£ 50.5 million; $ 66 million).
A BBC reporter at the scene reported the bodies and severe damage, enough to keep the port of Beirut out of action.
Lebanon: Why the country is in crisis
Prime Minister Hassan Diab called it a disaster and said those responsible must be held accountable.
He talked about the "dangerous warehouse" that has existed since 2014, but said he would not do any initial research.
Local media showed people trapped under the rubble. A witness described the first explosion as deafening, and video footage showed damaged cars and buildings exploding.
"All the buildings here are collapsing. I walk through glass and debris everywhere, in the dark," a witness near the port told AFP news agency.
The blast was heard 240km (150 miles) off the island of Cyprus in the eastern Mediterranean.
The blast occurred at a sensitive time for Lebanon, with the economic crisis restoring the old split. Tensions were also high ahead of Friday's verdict in the trial of the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in 2005.
'Glass descends from all over the building' Hadi Nasrallah, an eyewitness who spoke to the BBC
I saw the fire, but I did not know there would be an explosion. We went inside. Suddenly I lost my hearing because it seemed like I was too close. I lost my hearing for a few seconds, I knew something was wrong.
And then suddenly the glass shattered all over the car, the cars around us, the shops, the shops, the buildings. Only glass came down from the whole building.
Literally throughout Beirut, people call each other from different areas for several kilometers and they experience the same thing: broken glass, tremors, loud explosions.
Actually we were surprised because usually at that time it happened, only one area will experience the incident after the explosion, but this time it was all in Beirut, even outside Beirut.
Sunniva Rose, journalist "Driving to Beirut in the afternoon when it was still light, it was an absolute mess. The streets were completely covered with glass. It was difficult to get by ambulance - there were bricks, cement boards. The houses had collapsed.
"When I arrived at the port, it was closed by the military. The military said to stay away in the event of a second explosion.
"There was still smoke rising in the sky until late at night. The whole city was dark. It was very difficult to walk, people were covered in blood. I saw an 86-year-old woman being treated by a doctor who had just come out of her house with first aid. The car was destroyed. entirely by stone.Old-style houses with large pieces of stone have just fallen on the street.
"This is a mess in my own flat, all the glasses are shattered. The extent of the damage is extreme. Even in a shopping mall 2km away - the whole facade is shattered."
What is ammonium nitrate?
Ammonium nitrate has several different uses, but the two most common are as agricultural fertilizers and as explosives.
It explodes very easily when in contact with fire - and when exploded, ammonium nitrate can release toxic gases including nitrogen oxide and ammonia gas.
Because it is very flammable there are strict rules on how to store ammonium nitrate safely - but among the conditions is that the storage site must be completely fireproof, and there are no waterways, pipes or other channels through which ammonium nitrate can build, creating an additional explosion hazard.
How do other countries react?
The Lebanese prime minister also called for international help: "I urge urgent countries of friendship and brotherhood ... to stand in Lebanon and help us heal our deepest wounds," Hassan Diab said.
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson tweeted: "Pictures and videos from Beirut tonight are shocking. All my thoughts and prayers are with those trapped in this horrific incident.
"The UK is ready to provide support in the way we can, including British citizens affected."
US President Donald Trump expressed deep sympathy after what he called a "terrible attack," and his Secretary of State Mike Pompeo offered to help, tweeting: "We monitor and are ready to help the Lebanese people as they recover from this terrible tragedy."
France says it is sending aid and resources to Lebanon.
Iran will "provide assistance in whatever way is needed" Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif tweets, while Saudi Arabia expresses its full solidarity with Lebanon.
Israel said in a statement that it "approached Lebanon through international security and diplomatic channels and had offered medical and humanitarian assistance to the Lebanese government".
The German foreign ministry said the blast was felt at its embassy in the city.
"We cannot exclude German citizens who are dead and injured," he said in a statement.
What is the situation in Lebanon?
Lebanon is experiencing political turmoil, with street demonstrations against the government addressing the worst economic crisis since the 1975-1990 civil war.
Many blame the ruling elites who have dominated politics for years and amassed their own wealth while failing to carry out the reforms necessary to solve the country's problems. People have to deal with the problem of daily power outages, lack of safe drinking water and limited public health care.
There are also tensions on the border with Israel, which said last week that it had thwarted Hezbollah's efforts to infiltrate Israeli territory. But a senior Israeli official has told the BBC that "Israel has nothing to do" with the Beirut blast.
The blast occurred near a large car bombing site that killed former PM Hariri. Tuesday's blast also occurred a few days before the long-awaited verdict in a special court in the Netherlands against four men accused of organizing the attack.
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Satu letupan besar di ibu negara Lubnan, Beirut, telah mengorbankan sekurang-kurangnya 70 orang dan mencederakan lebih dari 4.000 yang lain, kata menteri kesihatan.
Video menunjukkan asap mengepul dari api, kemudian awan cendawan berikutan letupan di pelabuhan kota.
Pegawai menyalahkan bahan letupan yang tersimpan di gudang selama enam tahun.
Presiden Michel Aoun menulis di tweet bahawa "tidak dapat diterima" bahawa 2,750 tan ammonium nitrat disimpan dengan tidak selamat.
Siasatan sedang dijalankan untuk mencari pencetus letupan yang tepat. Majlis Pertahanan Tertinggi Lebanon mengatakan mereka yang bertanggungjawab akan menghadapi "hukuman maksimum" yang mungkin.
Hospital dikatakan terbeban dan banyak bangunan musnah.
Presiden Aoun mengisytiharkan tempoh berkabung tiga hari, dan mengatakan pemerintah akan melepaskan dana kecemasan sebanyak 100 bilion lira (£ 50.5 juta; $ 66 juta).
Seorang wartawan BBC di tempat kejadian melaporkan mayat dan kerosakan teruk, cukup untuk menjadikan pelabuhan Beirut tidak beraksi.
Dalam gambar: Kekacauan dan kemusnahan di Beirut selepas letupan
Lubnan: Mengapa negara itu berada dalam krisis
Perdana Menteri Hassan Diab menyebutnya malapetaka dan mengatakan mereka yang bertanggungjawab mesti dipertanggungjawabkan.
Dia berbicara tentang "gudang berbahaya" yang telah ada sejak 2014, tetapi mengatakan dia tidak akan melakukan penyelidikan awal.
Media tempatan menunjukkan orang terperangkap di bawah runtuhan. Seorang saksi menggambarkan letupan pertama memekakkan telinga, dan rakaman video menunjukkan kereta yang rosak dan bangunan yang mengalami letupan.
"Semua bangunan di sini runtuh. Saya berjalan melalui kaca dan serpihan di mana-mana, dalam kegelapan," kata seorang saksi berhampiran pelabuhan kepada agensi berita AFP.
Letupan itu terdengar sejauh 240km (150 batu) di pulau Cyprus di bahagian timur Mediterranean.
Letupan itu berlaku pada masa yang sensitif bagi Lubnan, dengan krisis ekonomi mengembalikan perpecahan lama. Ketegangan juga tinggi menjelang keputusan Jumaat dalam perbicaraan berhubung pembunuhan mantan Perdana Menteri Rafik Hariri pada tahun 2005.
'Kaca turun dari seluruh bangunan' Hadi Nasrallah, saksi mata yang bercakap kepada BBC
Saya melihat api, tetapi saya belum tahu akan berlaku letupan. Kami masuk ke dalam. Tiba-tiba saya kehilangan pendengaran kerana nampaknya saya terlalu dekat. Saya kehilangan pendengaran selama beberapa saat, saya tahu ada sesuatu yang tidak kena.
Dan kemudian tiba-tiba kaca itu pecah di seluruh kereta, kereta di sekitar kita, kedai, kedai, bangunan. Hanya kaca yang turun dari seluruh bangunan.
Secara harfiah di seluruh Beirut, orang saling memanggil dari daerah yang berlainan sejauh beberapa kilometer dan mereka mengalami hal yang sama: pecah kaca, gegaran bangunan, letupan kuat.
Sebenarnya kami terkejut kerana biasanya ketika itu terjadi, hanya satu kawasan yang akan mengalami kejadian itu setelah letupan, tetapi kali ini semuanya di Beirut, bahkan di luar Beirut.
Sunniva Rose, wartawan "Memandu ke Beirut pada waktu petang ketika masih terang, itu kekacauan mutlak. Jalan-jalan benar-benar ditutup dengan kaca. Sukar untuk dilalui ambulans - ada batu bata, papan simen. Rumah-rumah telah runtuh.
"Ketika saya sampai di pelabuhan itu telah ditutup oleh tentera. Tentera mengatakan untuk menjauhkan diri sekiranya berlaku letupan kedua.
"Masih ada asap yang naik ke langit hingga larut malam. Seluruh bandar gelap. Sangat sukar untuk berjalan-jalan, orang berlumuran darah. Saya melihat seorang wanita berusia 86 tahun dirawat oleh doktor yang baru sahaja keluar dari rumahnya dengan alat pertolongan cemas. Kereta dihancurkan sepenuhnya oleh batu. Rumah-rumah gaya lama dengan potongan batu besar baru saja jatuh di jalan.
"Ini kekacauan di flat saya sendiri, semua gelasnya hancur. Sejauh mana kerosakannya sangat melampau. Bahkan di sebuah pusat beli-belah yang berjarak 2km - seluruh fasad hancur."
Apa itu ammonium nitrat?
Amonium nitrat mempunyai beberapa kegunaan yang berbeza, tetapi dua yang paling biasa adalah sebagai baja pertanian dan sebagai bahan letupan.
Ia sangat mudah meletup ketika bersentuhan dengan api - dan ketika meletup, amonium nitrat dapat melepaskan gas toksik termasuk nitrogen oksida dan gas ammonia.
Kerana sangat mudah terbakar ada peraturan yang ketat tentang cara menyimpan ammonium nitrat dengan selamat - tetapi antara syaratnya ialah laman penyimpanan perlu kalis api sepenuhnya, dan tidak ada saluran air, paip atau saluran lain di mana amonium nitrat dapat membina, mewujudkan bahaya letupan tambahan.
Bagaimana reaksi negara lain?
Perdana menteri Lubnan juga meminta pertolongan antarabangsa: "Saya membuat desakan mendesak kepada negara-negara yang bersahabat dan bersaudara ... untuk berdiri di Lebanon dan membantu kami menyembuhkan luka mendalam kami," kata Hassan Diab.
Perdana Menteri UK, Boris Johnson, tweet: "Gambar dan video dari Beirut malam ini sangat mengejutkan. Semua fikiran dan doa saya ada bersama mereka yang terperangkap dalam kejadian mengerikan ini.
"UK bersedia memberikan sokongan dengan cara yang kami mampu, termasuk kepada warga negara Britain yang terjejas."
Presiden AS Donald Trump menyampaikan rasa simpati yang mendalam setelah apa yang disebutnya "serangan mengerikan", dan Setiausaha Negaranya Mike Pompeo menawarkan bantuan, tweet: "Kami memantau dan bersedia untuk membantu rakyat Lebanon ketika mereka pulih dari tragedi mengerikan ini. "
Perancis mengatakan pihaknya mengirimkan bantuan dan sumber daya ke Lubnan.
Iran akan "memberikan bantuan dengan apa cara yang diperlukan" Menteri Luar Negeri Mohammad Javad Zarif tweet, sementara Arab Saudi menyatakan solidariti penuhnya dengan Lebanon.
Israel dalam satu pernyataan mengatakan bahawa mereka "mendekati Lebanon melalui saluran keselamatan dan diplomatik antarabangsa dan telah menawarkan bantuan perubatan dan kemanusiaan kerajaan Lubnan".
Kementerian luar Jerman mengatakan letupan itu dirasakan di kedutaannya di bandar itu.
"Kami tidak dapat mengecualikan warga Jerman yang mati dan cedera," katanya dalam satu kenyataan.
Bagaimana keadaan di Lubnan?
Lubnan mengalami pergolakan politik, dengan demonstrasi jalanan terhadap pemerintah menangani krisis ekonomi terburuk sejak perang saudara 1975-1990.
Banyak yang menyalahkan golongan elit pemerintah yang telah menguasai politik selama bertahun-tahun dan mengumpulkan kekayaan mereka sendiri sementara gagal melakukan pembaharuan yang diperlukan untuk menyelesaikan masalah negara. Orang ramai harus menghadapi masalah pemadaman elektrik setiap hari, kekurangan air minum yang selamat dan penjagaan kesihatan awam yang terhad.
Terdapat juga ketegangan di perbatasan dengan Israel, yang mengatakan minggu lalu bahwa ia telah menggagalkan usaha Hizbullah untuk menyusup ke wilayah Israel. Tetapi seorang pegawai kanan Israel telah memberitahu BBC bahawa "Israel tidak ada kaitan" dengan letupan Beirut.
Letupan itu berlaku berhampiran tempat pengeboman kereta besar yang mengorbankan mantan PM Hariri. Letupan hari Selasa juga berlaku beberapa hari sebelum keputusan yang ditunggu-tunggu dalam perbicaraan di mahkamah khas di Belanda terhadap empat lelaki yang dituduh mengatur serangan itu.
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Live Reactions To Explosion In Beirut, Lebanon
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