Wednesday, March 23 2005 20:54 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Beirut: Three people, including two Indians, were killed when a bomb blast rocked a Christian quarter north of Beirut early today (Mar 23, 2005), stoking fears of further violence in Lebanon at a moment of political tension and public foreboding.

Police reported that the blast in a shopping centre near the port of Jounieh, 20 kilometres north of Beirut, was caused by an 80-kilogram explosive device.

Two of the three fatalities were Indians, with the nationality of the third yet to be determined, police said, adding that three people had been injured. Early television reports said the wounded were two Sri Lankans and a Lebanese.

The explosion was the second act of violence in a Christian district since the February 14 assassination of popular former Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri and seemed certain to heighten fears of a resurgence in sectarian killing that devastated Lebanon during its 1975-1990 civil war. Eleven people were hurt early Saturday when a powerful bomb placed beneath a car exploded in the Christian suburb of Jdeide.

Today's blast occurred in the Alta Vista commercial centre in the Kaslik district that houses shops, a night club and an amusement hall. The force of the explosion ripped out the centre, causing damage in a radius of several hundred metres, forcing false ceilings to collapse, pillars to warp and blowing out windows.

Anti-Syrian opposition deputy Fares Boueiz quickly charged that the explosion was an attack aimed at deepening a sense of insecurity. "They want to destabilise the country," he said of the perpetrators. "We must not fall into the trap."

Another MP, Naamatallah Abi Nasr, accused "the enemies of Lebanon," adding, "I say that's enough."