A security source said at least three people had been killed and several wounded in the blast, which he said had targeted a vehicle used by a senior police official. The fate of the unidentified official was not immediately clear.

Firemen sprayed water over blazing cars and debris scattered over a road near the Mount Lebanon hospital in the east Beirut suburb of Hazmiyeh, home to several diplomatic missions and residences. A charred corpse was visible in one car.

The explosion occurred 10 days after a car bomb damaged a U.S. diplomatic car in the Lebanese capital, killing three people and wounding 16.

Lebanon has suffered at least 30 bombings in the last three years, many hitting anti-Syrian politicians and journalists. Bombers have targeted U.N. peacekeepers in the south.

The country's stability has also been rocked by a revolt by al Qaeda-inspired Islamist militants in the north last year.

Apart from its security problems, Lebanon is in the thick of a long-running political conflict pitting the Western-backed ruling coalition against the Hezbollah-led opposition.

(Writing by Alistair Lyon; editing by Andrew Roche)