UPDATE: 73 killed, thousands injured in Lebanon blast

Over 73 people have been confirmed dead in the massive explosion that ripped through central Beirut on Tuesday.

The blast near the port in the Lebanese capital sent up a huge mushroom cloud-shaped shockwave, flipping cars and upturning buildings.

Health Minister Hamad Hassan told reporters that at least 73 people were killed in the blast and over 3000 people have been wounded.

Footage from the scene captured the injured staggering through streets in the capital; and ambulances, cars and military vehicles packed with the wounded.

The director of the general security directorate later said the blast was caused by confiscated “high explosive materials,” but did not provide further details.

A red cloud hung over the city in the wake of the explosion as firefighting teams rushed to the scene to try to put out the fire.

At least 10 firefighters were missing, according to the city’s governor Marwan Abboud, who said the scene reminded him of “Hiroshima and Nagasaki.”

“In my life I haven’t seen destruction on this scale,” Abboud said.

“This is a national catastrophe.”

The blast comes at a tense time in Lebanon.

On Friday a UN-backed panel is expected to issue a verdict on the 2005 assassination of former prime minister Rafik Hariri, a move many fear will stoke sectarian tensions.

The country is also in the midst of an economic meltdown, with ballooning unemployment, a tanking currency and poverty rates soaring above 50%.