'We felt the earth move': Dumfries man caught up in Beirut explosion

A Dumfries man has told ITV Border of the moment he was caught up in the Beirut explosion that has claimed the lives of at least 135 people and injured 5,000.

Sebastian Kračun moved to the city just under a decade ago to set up a hotel with his wife.

The hotel is located approximately six kilometres away from where the blast happened, but the shockwaves still caused serious damage to the building.

CCTV cameras picked up what happened on Tuesday. It shows the moment Sebastian and a colleague are disturbed when they hear the eruption - and then almost 10 seconds later the windows of the hotel shatter.

Credit: ITV Border / Sebastian Kračun

Recalling the moment the blast hit, Sebastian said: "I think we heard a sound or we felt the earth move, there were vibrations and we felt something strange.

"It happened very quickly so I wasn't thinking too much, as soon as the windows started smashing I tried to duck and hide behind the concrete table."

Luckily the pair in the video escaped with minor damage, but the same cannot be said for the hotel which is now undergoing repairs.

Sebastian said: "I think adrenalin kicked in and I wasn’t too scared until the evening when I went to bed and went over in my mind what had happened. When I saw the CCTV footage that gave me a bit of a shock."

He and his wife are now offering their empty rooms to those who have lost their homes to the blast, which has devastated Lebanon's capital city.

Lebanese health minister Hamad Hasan said dozens of people are still missing and it is not yet known how many British nationals are among those caught up in the aftermath.