A large explosion shook the eastern outskirts of Beirut on Friday night, killing at least one person and wounding some 10 others, security sources said.

One person was killed in the booby-trapped car blast in Ashrafiyah neighborhood in Beirut, a senior security source said.

He added that the bomb was planted under the car and that it was believed to be detonated by a remote control.

The injured were admitted to hospital for treatment.

Another security source said in details that the bomb exploded near a branch of Lebanon's Byblos Bank in the area of Achrafieh and heard throughout Beirut, adding it badly damaged a building and destroyed two cars.

Following the blast, Lebanese security forces sealed off the area, witnesses said.

The Lebanese capital, especially the mainly Christian areas east of Beirut, have witnessed a string of night time explosions since the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri who was slain in a car bomb on a Beirut street on Feb. 14.

(Xinhua News Agency September 17, 2005)