One of Beirut’s main neighborhoods, Achrafieh, was just blown away by a huge explosion at its heart, in the midst of Sassine Square. The details are still vastly unclear but it looks to be a non-political blast – the aim could be to cause as much casualties and damage as possible seeing as it went off at rush hour.

According to the Lebanese civil defense, 8 people were killed so far with 78 others injured. You can follow the details over at LBC and MTV.

The explosion seems to have taken place in a building immediately next to the telecom center, Ogero.

Now, the casualties from the blast are pouring down to the three nearby hospitals: Rizk, Hotel Dieu and St. George (Roum) Hospital. What I ask of any reader that stumbles on this and who happens to be close is to go down to the hospital and donate blood – no matter what your blood type is.

Meanwhile, some Lebanese are beginning to worry about their weekend. My friends in Achrafieh, stay safe – your (and my) region has been through much worse than this and it has always gone through: الأشرفية قوية.