Israel bombs building near Beirut airport as plane readies for takeoff

A plane of Kyrgyz airline Moalem Aviation was preparing for takeoff when an explosion occurred near the airport in Beirut.

Israel struck a powerful blow to a building in the Shuweifat district. A correspondent of Sputnik Arabic captured the moment of the explosion on video.

A representative of Moalem Aviation LLC said that the plane was carrying cargo to Dubai.

"During takeoff, our crew saw smoke and notified us about it. They flew to Dubai as scheduled. A day later, we saw news in the media that there was an explosion near the airport. We did not feel anything on board the plane at that moment. The Beirut airport continued working. No one was hurt," airline representatives said.

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Beirut–Rafic Hariri International Airport is the only operational commercial airport in Lebanon. It is located in the Southern Suburbs of Beirut, Lebanon, 9 kilometres (5.6 mi) from the city center. The airport is the hub for Lebanon's national carrier, Middle East Airlines (MEA) and was the hub for the Lebanese cargo carrier TMA cargo and Wings of Lebanon before their respective collapses. The airport was named after former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafic Hariri in 2005, following his assassination earlier that year.