Several people have been killed in a bomb attack in a mainly Christian suburb of the Lebanese capital, Beirut.

The car bomb detonated in Hazmieh, setting dozens of vehicles ablaze and ripping a crater in the road.

Huge plumes of smoke filled the sky close to a junction near one of the main highways through the capital.

Crowds quickly gathered at the scene as firefighters struggled to extinguish the flames.

Among the victims was a senior police officer who had been investigating a series of bombings that have killed a string of prominent anti-Syrian figures over the past three years.

Police said one of the officer's companions and a number of civilians who happened to be in the area also died.