Explosion rocks Beirut hotel during security raid

BEIRUT (AP) — A suicide bomber blew himself up in his room at a Beirut hotel Wednesday as Lebanese security forces raided the premises, causing an explosion that sent flames and a dark cloud of black smoke billowing out of the third-floor windows, security officials said.

The blast toward the end of evening rush-hour took place inside the Duroy Hotel in Beirut’s Raouche district, a posh neighborhood of apartment towers and upscale hotels perched on cliffs overlooking the Mediterranean Sea. Lebanese security forces, who detained a second suspected bomber in the sweep, sealed off the area around the hotel and armed gunmen fanned out on the street to secure the location.