At least 50 people were killed and more than 2,700 injured in a blast that rocked Beirut near its port earlier Tuesday, officials said, per The Associated Press. Beirut's governor, Marwan Abboud, said the city, which is already dealing with an economic crisis and the coronavirus pandemic, is "devastated."
The cause of the blast remains unclear, but Abbas Ibrahim, the chief of Lebanese General Security, said it may have been highly explosive material confiscated from a ship years ago and stored in the port. Indeed, there are reports that Lebanese officials confiscated 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate from a ship in 2013 and stored it in the port's warehouses.
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