A number of Beirut port officials are being placed under house arrest pending investigation into Tuesday’s huge explosion.
Lebanon’s government says the blast has so far killed at least 135 people and injured more than 5 thousand others. More than 300 people have also been displaced. Meanwhile, a two-week state of emergency has commenced with three days of mourning beginning today.
President Michel Aounsaid the blast was caused by two thousand seven hundred and 50 tons of ammonium nitrate stored recklessly in a warehouse.
Customs Chief BadriDaher said his agency called for the chemical to be removed, but it did not happen.
Specialists at the University of Sheffield in the UK estimate that the blast had about one tenth of the explosive power of the atomic bomb dropped on the Japanese city of Hiroshima during World War Two and was “unquestionably one of the biggest non-nuclear explosions in history.
