US Defence Secretary Mark Esper says 'most believe' Beirut explosion was an accident

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ASPEN, COLORADO (BLOOMBERG) - US Defence Secretary Mark Esper, asked about Tuesday's deadly explosion in Beirut, said that 'most believe it was an accident as reported.'. Read more at straitstimes.com.

ASPEN, COLORADO - US Defence Secretary Mark Esper, asked about Tuesday's deadly explosion in Beirut, said that"most believe it was an accident as reported."

He did not elaborate, but Esper's comment on Wednesday to the annual Aspen National Security conference was at odds with President Donald Trump's observation the day before that US military officials"seem to think it was an attack. It was a bomb of some kind."Authorities blamed a quantity of ammonium nitrate equivalent to 1,800 tonnes of TNT that had been stored at the port, without saying what triggered the blast.

The ammonium nitrate was unloaded from the cargo ship Rhosus in 2014, according to two letters issued by the director-general of Lebanese Customs. For reasons that are unclear, dockworkers unloaded the chemical, which can be used to make fertilisers and explosives, and put it into storage."When you see the video, it's just devastating."

 

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