Lebanon

A massive explosion rocked Beirut on Tuesday, flattening much of the city’s port, damaging buildings across the capital and sending a giant mushroom cloud into the sky. More than 100 people are feared dead and thousands injured, with bodies buried in the rubble, officials said.

Stay behind groups and their abundant weapons caches, undoubtedly, including explosive materials- This report deals with just one nation. Austria.Baltimore Sun 1996

The emerging official narrative is that a welder accidentally set off a stockpile of fireworks, which then caused more than 2,700 tons of ammonium nitrate stored at a nearby warehouse to explode.

Via the BBC (https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-53673957)…
People in Beirut have expressed anger at the government over what they say was negligence that led to Tuesday’s huge explosion.
President Michel Aoun said the blast was caused by 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate stored unsafely in a warehouse.
Many have accused the authorities of corruption, neglect and mismanagement.

Source: Al-Mayadeen, Lebanese TV channel pro-Hezbollah, August 5th, 2020 Translation: resistancenews.org https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uTNPvuApgNw&w=1280&h=720 https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x7vf2l2 Transcript: Greetings. Anyone who sees these photos will find it hard to believe that they show the

A powerful explosion occurred in the vicinity of the Port of Beirut on 4 August in the evening. Many city blocks were damage, and the echo from the explosion resounded across many hundreds of kilometers, even reaching Nicosia, journalists from Cyprus TV channels reported.

August 6, 2020 (21st Century Wire) - BEIRUT – Yesterday, an immense explosion ripped through Lebanon’s capital of Beirut, emanating from the city’s busy port situated right next to the city centre.Image: Aerial view of the aftermath of the port explosion showing grain silos still standing next to unusually large crater (Image: CNW@Twitter)

To see Beirut and its port area with a huge mushroom cloud hanging above is a truly surreal sight. But what is not surreal in battered Lebanese capital?
A big part of the downtown looks flattened, thoroughly ruined.
One of my Japanese friends based in Beirut exclaimed:

“It looks like Hiroshima!”

Sputnik – August 5, 2020

The deadly explosion, which levelled the Lebanese capital’s port and severely damaged nearby areas, left at least 80 people dead and thousands more injured. The city’s hospitals are filled to the brim and countries around the world are rushing to offer their assistance.

Press TV – August 5, 2020

Iran’s Judiciary Chief Ebrahim Raeisi has called on the international community to take action to help lift US sanctions against Lebanon to prevent a humanitarian catastrophe in the wake of a recent massive explosion that ravaged the country’s capital Beirut.