A massive explosion killed at least 100 people and wounded more than 4,000 in Lebanon’s capital, Beirut.
The explosion released shockwaves through the city, damaging buildings and sending a giant mushroom cloud into the sky. Rescue workers dug through rubble on Wednesday, looking for survivors. Officials said the numbers are expected to increase.
The cause of the explosion was not immediately clear, but Lebanon’s internal security chief Abbas Ibrahim said the site of the blast in the port area of the city was housing highly explosive materials.
Lebanon’s president Michel Aoun assembled the country’s High Defence Council. He said that said 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate, used in fertilisers and as an explosive, had been stored for 6 years at the port without safety measures. He called it “unacceptable”, and called for two-week state of emergency in Beirut.
Lebanon’s prime minister Hassan Diab said he would “reveal facts” about the warehouse soon, but did not say what caused the explosives to ignite: “I promise you that this catastrophe will not pass without accountability”, Diab said.
United States president Donald Trump on Tuesday said that he had met with some US generals who feel the blast was not “some kind of a manufacturing explosion type of event”. He added that “they seem to think it was an attack. It was a bomb of some kind”.
French president Emmanuel Macron said France was sending resources to the site of the blast. United Kingdom prime Minister Boris Johnson also said Britain stood ready to provide any support. Italy’s foreign minister Luigi Di Maio wished “a speedy recovery” to those wounded in the blast. Turkey’s foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu offered his condolences to the Lebanese people, adding that Ankara was ready to assist in “every way”.
The German foreign ministry said that the German embassy building, located not far from the port, was damaged and that staff at the embassy were wounded in the explosion.
The blast comes at a time of heightened tension between the Iran-backed Shi’ite Islamist group Hezbollah, which makes up part of the Lebanese government, and neighboring Israel.
Iranian foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said the country is ready to help Lebanon in any way necessary. Israel said it had offered humanitarian aid to Lebanon via foreign channels, as the neighbours have no diplomatic relations.
