Theories abound on what really happened
BEIRUT/WASHINGTON: Ammonium nitrate, sabotage by a foreign intelligence agency, a malicious attack or a nuclear blast?
Theories abound on what actually caused the Beirut blast, with US President Donald Trump chiming in to say it was likely an “attack” and a “bomb of some kind”. There has been no indication from Lebanese officials that the explosion was caused deliberately. But Trump said it “looks like a terrible attack”, citing unnamed US generals. Interestingly, a Pentagon spokesman said “we don’t have anything for you” on the matter.
Conspiracy theories doing the rounds on the internet include one that says the blast was a planned move by the Israel Defence Force. Israel categorically denies any involvement. Lebanon’s government and Iranbacked Hezbollah militants are arch enemies of Israel.
The white mushroom cloud seen during the explosion’s shock wave led some people to speculate that it was a nuclear blast.
So what really happened? An initial large explosion in Beirut’s port area took place at around 6pm on Tuesday, resulting in a fire, several small blasts and then a colossal explosion that flattened the harbour front and nearby buildings.
Videos showed a fireball rising above a line of massive storage silos, then a billowing white cloud towering into the sky as a powerful shock wave ripped through the city.
Seismologists measured the event as the equivalent of a 3.3-magnitude earthquake.
Prime Minister Hassan Diab said 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate, an agricultural fertiliser also used in bombs, stored in a portside warehouse had blown up, sparking “a disaster in every sense of the word”.
Ammonium nitrate is an odourless crystalline substance that has been the cause of numerous industrial explosions over decades. When combined with fuel oils, it creates a potent explosive widely used in the construction industry.
But crucially, ammonium nitrate is also used by terror groups such as the Taliban.
The volatile material had been confiscated years ago and stored in the port’s warehouse. British daily Telegraph reported that Igor Grechushkinof, the Russian owner of the Rhosus ship, abandoned the deadly cargo from Georgia to Mozambique, declared bankruptcy on an unscheduled stop, and left the material at the Beirut port.