Hours after yesterday's massive blast in the centre of the Lebanese capital, which killed former prime minister Rafik Hariri, stunned onlookers surveyed the damage, reminiscent of the bloody civil war that ended 15 years ago, writes Nuala Haughey in Beirut.
At least nine other people were killed and 100 wounded in the seafront explosion, which gouged a 30-foot-wide crater in the road and sent plumes of acrid smoke into the sky from the burning vehicles.
Firefighters doused the burning vehicles and ambulances took away bloodied survivors from the scene of devastation, the likes of which have not been witnessed since the civil war of 1975-1990.
"The whole tape of the civil war is going back in my mind and I'm saying 'my God what is happening'," said Rula, a 50-year-old who runs a downtown jewellery shop.
"I lived here all my life through the bloody years of the civil war, living in bunkers, and the moment we started feeling we can breathe again, the country is going to go back to this. It's disgusting."
The assassination of Mr Hariri, a 61-year-old self-made billionaire who was integral to the country's post-war reconstruction, comes at a time of political tension in Lebanon and international pressure over Syria's role in the country, just a few months before legislative elections are due to be held.
Syria became a dominant player during Lebanon's civil war, and its forces took much of the credit for bringing the conflict to a close.
Last night the Lebanese army went on alert, deploying patrols and setting up checkpoints.
Mr Hariri resigned as caretaker prime minister in October when Damascus persuaded the Beirut parliament to amend the constitution to extend the presidential term of its ally Mr Emile Lahoud. While he was not an official member of the opposition, Mr Hariri had joined calls from opposition politicians for a Syrian troop withdrawal and was expected to make a comeback in May's elections.
Mr Hariri was the majority shareholder in Solidere, the country's biggest real estate company, which transformed this war-torn area into a tourist and commercial hub, with restored or faux period buildings of gleaming sandstone and marble.
Mr Ziad Nawfal, a 26-year-old accountant, came to witness the scene with his twin sister Zena. The siblings were only 11 when the civil war, which claimed some 100,000 lives, finally ended. "This is a very new experience for me, and not a very nice one," said Ziad. "The country has survived similar assassinations, but it will be uneasy.
"[ Hariri] was a symbol of trust in this country's economic future."
Zena, an architect, was more pessimistic. "The first thought I had after I realised what happened was 'now I don't have a reason to stay here'. The first opportunity I have, I am definitely leaving."
Unknown group says attack 'first of a campaign': page 13