A massive explosion in Beirut is being blamed on 27-hundred tons of ammonium nitrate. Lebanon's prime minister says it was left unsecured in a warehouse for years. He's vowing to punish those responsible and calling for a two-week state of emergency.
According to reports, the blast released toxic gases and now people are being told to wear masks and stay inside. Whole neighborhoods of the Lebanese capitol have been flattened. Officials – both in Lebanon and elsewhere have hesitated to say this calamity was some kind of attack, but President Trump has said otherwise – while offering condolences during a press briefing yesterday afternoon.
What we know for sure? That video of the explosion (which you can see to the right) shows the devastation is immense. Still, questions about why so much of the compound weren’t secured remains. "I will not rest until we find the person responsible for what happened,” Prime Minister Hassan Diab says in a statement. “To hold him accountable and impose the most severe penalties.”
Source: The Guardian