Deadliest Israeli strike yet on central Beirut leaves gruesome scenes

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Stepping through the charred ruins of her neighbourhood in central Beirut, Lebanese seamstress Laila Amayrad watched bulldozers pick through a building flattened by an Israeli strike days ago, hoping her friends' bodies would be found.

The massive Israeli strike hit the densely populated Basta Fawqa neighbourhood in the Lebanese capital just before dawn on Saturday, killing at least 29 people including children, making it the deadliest bombardment of the city in the last year.

On Monday afternoon, more than 48 hours later, civil defence workers were still digging through the remains of the eight-storey building, now reduced to a vast crater.