Speculated Reasons Behind Beirut Blast Of Yesterday Which Killed More Than 100 People

The tragic Beirut blasts that occurred yesterday have certainly gripped the global news simply because of the amount of devastation caused.

A huge blast happened in the port area of Beirut, capital of Lebanon which is a country in Western Asia.

The port area of Beirut has a lot of warehouses that store and house explosives and is located at the centre of Beirut.

As per the Lebanese Red Cross, a minimum of 100 people have already died in the blast and its aftermath, and over 4,000 are injured.

It is said that the effect of the blast was so massive that it was felt from many kilometers away from the blast site and sent shockwaves through the city.

This shockwave shook buildings, shattered windows and even resulted in smashed masonry.

When And How Did The Blast Happen?

The blast happened at around 6 pm local time in Beirut near the capital’s port and central district.

One of the reasons this blast has caused so much distress could also be because the explosion site is so close to tourist sites and well-populated areas, increasing the chances of civilians getting hurt.

Reports reveal that the impact of the blast was felt even till Cyprus which is a whopping 240-250 kilometers away from the blast site. It also got registered as a 3.3 magnitude earthquake.

Homes that were located as much as 10 kilometers away from the site also experienced injury along with damages to the headquarters of former Prime Minister Saad Hariri and more.

Marwan Abboud, Beirut’s governor has stated, as per reports, that the blast has caused damage approximately worth three to five billion US dollars.

Hospitals are said to be overflowing with patients and going out of space extremely fast with wounded people being brought in or other people waiting there to get some information on their loved ones.

Given the huge impact of the blast, several theories and reports are going around wondering what exactly caused the explosion.

1. Ammonium Nitrate 

The most reported cause of the blast seems to be huge quantities of ammonium nitrate that were stored in a warehouse at the site.

Mohammed Fahmi, the Interior Minister has told MTV Lebanon that “huge quantities of ammonium nitrate” were stored at the port.

Information that over 2,700 tons of this chemical, which is extremely explosive, was stored and used as fertilizer often, was revealed by Prime Minister Hassan Diab.

This chemical had been in storage for almost six years since 2014 when it was seized from a cargo ship.

Investigations are currently going on in whether this is the real cause or not.

2. Trump Calling It An Attack

US President Donald Trump in an epic moment of genius called it an attack and something that was done to cause harm to Lebanon.

On Tuesday he stated that “It looks like a terrible attack,” while giving a White House news briefing related to the current ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

He further explained that he was told this by “some of our great generals, and they just seem to feel that it was. This was not a — some kind of a manufacturing explosion”.

Trump also was quoted saying, “They seem to think it was an attack. It was a bomb of some kind.”

Barring the incredibly insensitive comments during such a serious issue and using such frivolous language like ‘bomb of some kind‘ and further creating conspiracy theories, his statements were quickly shut down by the Lebanese authorities.

As per a quote in The New York Times, a senior official in the Lebanese government cleared up that this was not an attack during the televised statement from Prime Minister Hassan Diab.

He said that “I will not relax until we find the responsible party for what happened, hold it accountable and apply the most serious punishments against it because it isn’t acceptable that a shipment of ammonium nitrate — estimated to be 2,750 tons — was in a depot for the past six years without precautionary measures being taken.”

In another CNN report, anonymous officials from the defence department have also said that there doesn’t seem to be much evidence to prove it was an attack.

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3. Israel Involved?

Owing to the strained relationships between Lebanon and Israel, questions over their involvement with the blast were inevitable.

Many believed that this could be an attack from Israel, however, this was rebutted by several Lebanese and Israelite authorities.

“There is no truth to rumours about an Israeli strike against Hezbollah weapons in the port,” said senior Hezbollah officials to OTV Lebanon.

Israel’s Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi also stated that “I see no reason to not believe the reports that it was an accident.”

David Daoud, a well-known Lebanon analyst, was also reported to have said that Israel has no interest in creating discourse at the moment and would likely not be involved in this issue.

However, the sudden explosion still remains a mystery and who did this is something that certainly needs to be investigated thoroughly.

This also brings attention to the massive problem of blasts that have happened quite a lot of times since 2005 in Beirut.

From that time till 2018, Beirut has suffered from almost 13 blasts spread over the years.

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