‘We need justice’: seething protesters descend on the streets of Beirut

Anger rises in the capital as crowd demands resignation of the Lebanese government following Tuesday's explosion

Tens of thousands of demonstrators demanded the resignation of Lebanon's embattled government yesterday, clashing with police and soldiers and railing at a political class they universally blamed for the catastrophic explosion that destroyed parts of Beirut last Tuesday.

The rally in the capital's Martyrs' Square was preceded by the resignation of three MPs from the nearby Lebanese parliament. The seething crowd called for others to follow, and Hassan Diab, the Lebanon prime minister, called for early elections, potentially after two months.