Six dead as Beirut gripped by worst street violence in 13 years

Armed clashes erupt at demonstrations demanding end to judge's investigation of huge blast last year

At least six people have died in Beirut's worst street violence in 13 years, as hundreds of armed militia men took to the streets and much of the city was forced into lockdown by heavy fighting.

The bloody violence took on a sectarian tone that invoked images of the Lebanese civil war and alarmed residents who had long feared that the multiple crises ravaging the country could spark a deadly conflagration.