A car burns after an explosion in Beirut, Lebanon, on Friday, October 19. The blast hit the Ashrafiyeh district in East Beirut, a predominantly Christian area.
Lebanese firefighters douse burning vehicles.
Lebanese Red Cross aid workers help a wounded man. Dozens were injured, some seriously, and others were slightly hurt, a senior hospital official said.
Lebanese security forces and rescue workers gather at the site of the explosion.
Lebanese men evacuate a wounded woman from the scene of the car bomb.
Lebanese police stand by a crater as they secure the site.
Civil defense members help a wounded man in the immediate aftermath.
A wounded woman is carried from the area. The attack did not target any political figure, the Lebanese National News Agency says.
A civil defense member helps a wounded man.
A wounded woman gets assistance.
Lebanese soldiers secure the area around the mangled wreckage of the blast.
A woman is helped by a Lebanese soldier after the explosion.
Relatives comfort a wounded woman at the site.
A Lebanese soldier secures the area as a civil defense member helps an injured woman.
- Authorities don't think the targets are political
- Bombing in a commercial district left mangled cars and charred buildings
- Lebanese fear violence in Syria could spread to their country
Beirut, Lebanon (CNN) -- A car bombing rocked the heart of Beirut on Friday, causing eight deaths and many injuries, fiery wreckage and chaos in the streets, Lebanese news media said.
The blast took place in Sassine Square in the Ashrafiyeh distrct of East Beirut, a largely Christian and commercial area replete with shops and office buildings. At least 78 others were injured, Lebanon's National News Agency said, citing the country's civil defense.
The bomb was placed in a car in front of a library and 200 meters away from the office of the anti-Syrian Lebanese Phalange political movement, a Maronite Christian group.
But authorities say they don't believe the targets are political.
Fatal car bomb rocks Beirut
The explosion shook windows in CNN's offices, about 10 minutes away from the scene, and staffers saw black smoke rising. At least one car was engulfed in flames, blackened wreckage littered the street, and windows were blown out.
Security forces asked citizens to stay away from the area, the NNA said. Video from the scene showed people carrying victims to ambulances, rows of mangled cars and charred buildings.
One hospital said it treated more than 30 people.
Military and emergency personnel are there amid shocked crowds.
Lebanon was engulfed in a civil war from 1975 to 1990, and sectarian tensions have reigned across the diverse country.
Civilians fear that the sectarian tensions tied to the Syrian civil war will grow and the country will be sucked into the conflict.
The Phalange is part of the March 14 movement, the anti-Syrian coalition that emerged after Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri was assassinated in 2005. That movement was key in forcing the withdrawal of Syrian troops that had long occupied neighboring Lebanon.
There has been violence and tension in Lebanon over Syria, where Bashar al-Assad's government has been fighting rebels. Lebanese Alawites, who back al-Assad's Alawite-dominated government, and Sunnis who back the opposition have fought in Lebanon.
CNN's Nada Husseini, Tracy Doueiry and Joe Sterling contributed to this report.
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