Lebanon’s health minister Hamad Hasan has said that over a dozen people have been injured in the explosion that rocked country’s capital Beirut, reported BBC. He said the damage is extensive.

Two huge explosion rocked Lebanon’s capital Beirut on Tuesday, wounding dozens of people, shaking buildings and sending huge plumes of smoke billowing into the sky. A huge cloud of black smoke has engulfed the entire port area, where the explosions took place, AFP reported. 

The blast were felt across the city and beyond, as far away as Nicosia on the eastern Mediterranean island of Cyprus, 240 kilometres (150 miles) away, with some districts losing electricity. The cause of the blast is not known yet.

PM Hasan Diab has declared a national day of mourning Wednesday, reported AFP

An AFP correspondent at the scene said every shop in the Hamra commercial district had sustained damage, with entire shopfronts destroyed, windows shattered and many cars wrecked.