A huge explosion rips through central Beirut, killing former Lebanese Finance Minister Mohammed Shattah.

He was an adviser to the former Prime Minister Saad Hariri, a Sunni Muslim, and opposed Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Shattah was on his way to a meeting when his convoy was targeted. Four others died in the blast.

The sound of the explosion could be heard across the city at around nine am and a plume of smoke rose over the business district.

(SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) LEBANESE CITIZEN SAMER, OWNER OF PHARMACY NEAR BLAST SITE, SAYING:

"We were inside and felt glass breaking and coming in then we heard the sound, and what happened happened, an explosion happened and explosion continued to break, we waited till it was all broken then went out and saw this."

A car was in flames near the parliament and a restaurant and coffee shop destroyed.

Scores of ambulances arrived at the scene to take victims to nearby hospitals.

Much of Beirut went