Teen in Beirut bombing ‘Selfie’ dies

  A Lebanese teenager seen posing for a group “selfie” in front of a bomb-laden car moments before it exploded in the capital Beirut died of his injuries on Saturday.

“The number of victims from the attack rose to seven after the death of young Mohammad al-Chaar this morning, succumbing to his injuries at the American Hospital in Beirut,” said Lebanon’s official NNA news agency.

Following Friday’s bombing in the heart of Beirut, AFP photographers saw the 16-year-old lying on the pavement, his head bloodied, before he was taken to hospital with severe injuries.

Chaar had been identified online as one of four youths seen posing in a group selfie posted on social media networks in front of the car that exploded moments later.

The picture went viral on the internet, and the confirmation of his death sparked an outpouring of tributes on social media websites like Facebook and Twitter.

Among the six other people killed in the attack was Mohammad Chatah, an influential economist, former finance minister and ex-envoy to Washington who was also a close aide to ex-prime minister Saad Hariri.

Dozens of people were also wounded in the bombing, which officials said was caused by 50-60 kilograms of explosives.

Chatah is to be buried at the mausoleum of Hariri’s father on Sunday, which President Michel Sleiman has declared a national day of mourning.

Rafiq Hariri, the then prime minister, was killed in a suicide bombing on the Beirut seafront on Feb. 14, 2005.