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Drone footage captured by CNN this morning showed the destruction left in the wake of Tuesday’s deadly explosion in Beirut. At least 100 people were killed in the blast, and the death toll could rise as many more people are reported missing. At least 4,000 people were injured in the explosion.

Lebanese authorities declared Beirut a “disaster city" on Wednesday, according to Lebanon State-run NNA news, citing a statement released by the country’s Minister of Information Manal Abdel Samad Najd. A state of emergency has been declared in Beirut for two weeks, Najd said in the statement, adding this could be extended. The country’s Council of Ministers made the two decisions on Wednesday in an “extraordinary session” headed by President Michel Aoun and in the presence of the prime minister. "The highest military authority is immediately responsible for maintaining security," Najd said in the statement. "The government asked the Ministry of Works to take the necessary steps to secure import and export operations, especially in the ports of Tripoli and Sidon.” It was also decided in the extraordinary session "to instruct the High Relief Commission to secure shelter for families whose homes are no longer fit for housing, open schools and hotels to receive...

VIA CNN::  CNN's senior international correspondent Ben Wedeman went inside a home overlooking the port where Tuesday’s massive explosion took place in Beirut. The home was inhabited by an elderly couple. “When the blast happened, the walls just collapsed,” wounding the woman who was in bed, Wedeman reports. She is severely wounded and in the hospital. “The bed is still stained with her blood.” Looking out through the walls of the home that have collapsed, Wedeman describes the state of the warehouse that exploded. What was simply dry ground before, Wedeman says, is now a crater, with water flowing into the area. The Lebanese government has committed to conducting a transparent investigation into the explosion, but Wedeman says it is “scant consolation” to the families of those killed, injured and missing. Beirut's governor said in an interview earlier today that at least 300,000 people have been displaced from their homes by the blast.