Moment priest flees in terror as Beirut blast shakes church during live-stream

This is the moment a priest ran for cover as his church was hit by the devastating explosion in Beirut.

The cleric was live-streaming a religious ceremony on Tuesday evening when the blast erupted in the Lebanese capital, according to local journalist Steven Nabil.

The video begins with the man chanting and burning incense in front of his altar, the room bathed in a warm golden glow.

Seconds later, the camera begins to shake and a sound of rattling can be heard.

Serenity soon turns to chaos in the church

Suddenly, the lights go out and the priest ceases his recital as the room is plunged into darkness.

He nervously continues to wave his thurible until, with a crash, debris cascades from the ceiling and he leaps to one side.

The camera falls to the floor as breaking glass and shouts can be heard in the background.

It is unclear whether the priest or any of his parishioners were hurt.

At least 100 people were killed and more than 4,000 injured in the explosion which shook Lebanon.

The blast at a warehouse in the port of Beirut sparked fires, overturned cars and blew out windows and doors.

It struck with the force of a 3.5 magnitude earthquake, according to Germany’s geosciences centre GFZ.

The impact was heard and felt as far away as Cyprus, more than 180 miles across the Mediterranean.

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