JERUSALEM, Israel—Less than 2 hours after a car bombing in Beirut, Lebanon that left 8 dead and at least 78 injured, social media sites were ablaze with photos and firsthand information about the attacks. Media reports, led initially by the BBC, continued to update the number of casualties throughout the afternoon as information became available and verifiable.
A large number of messages sent out on Twitter repeated an urgent call for people in the surrounding area to donate blood to help victims arriving at area hospitals.
The car bomb explosion, which went off at about 3 p.m. local time was in the Christian neighborhood of Achrafieh. Initial eyewitness reports of the aftermath of the bombings, including detailed—and sometimes graphic—photographs, came from users on Twitter.
The bombing took place near Sassine Square, and many area residents impacted by the bombing are in need of shelter due to the damage and chaos in the area. Late Friday afternoon, some Twitter users were attempting to coral housing support under the search term #SassineAID.
