💥 Updated, 7:45 PM ET (12:01 AM UTC/GMT, Wed 05 Aug 2020)
💥 Speculation and fear after massive explosion in Beirut - Jerusalem Post
💥 Beirut blasts damaged UN ship, badly injured crew - Al Arabiya, which also reports at least 75 dead and 3,700 injured.
💥 A report from USA Today (emphasis added): "Though the cause of the explosion was yet to be officially determined, Abbas Ibrahim, chief of Lebanese General Security, said it might have been caused by highly explosive material that was stored at the port after it was confiscated from a ship. Television channel LBC [Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation] said the material was sodium nitrate. Mohammed Fahmi, Lebanon's interior minister, told Al-Jazeera news the blast appeared to have been caused by ammonium nitrate that was stored in a warehouse. Ammonium nitrate, used in chemical fertilizer production, was a component of the bombing of the Oklahoma City federal building in 1995."
💥 Bill Neely (@BillNeelyNBC) tweeted this at 5:29 PM ET: "Lebanese Prime Minister says #Beirut explosions caused by an estimated 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate left unsecured for 6 years in a warehouse. He vows to punish officials responsible. 50+ dead, 3,000 injured, hospitals overwhelmed." (For comparison, in 1995 Timothy McVeigh blew up the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in downtown Oklahoma City with two tons of ammonium nitrate fertilizer mixed with fuel oil.)
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💥 Speculation and fear after massive explosion in Beirut - Jerusalem Post
💥 Beirut blasts damaged UN ship, badly injured crew - Al Arabiya, which also reports at least 75 dead and 3,700 injured.
💥 Some excellent live reporting by BBC News about the Beirut explosions
💥 Bill Neely (@BillNeelyNBC) tweeted this at 5:29 PM ET: "Lebanese Prime Minister says #Beirut explosions caused by an estimated 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate left unsecured for 6 years in a warehouse. He vows to punish officials responsible. 50+ dead, 3,000 injured, hospitals overwhelmed." (For comparison, in 1995 Timothy McVeigh blew up the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in downtown Oklahoma City with two tons of ammonium nitrate fertilizer mixed with fuel oil.)
