Death Toll Rises In Beirut Blast Linked To Seized Russian-Owned Ship

Death Toll Rises In Beirut Blast Linked To Seized Russian-Owned Ship

The death toll from a massive explosion that ripped across the Lebanese capital has climbed to 135 as investigators search the wreckage of the port of Beirut for clues to the cause of the blast. Lebanon's health minister told a local TV station on August 5 that some 5,000 people were wounded and dozens were still missing from the explosion at a warehouse in the port on August 4.

Officials have blamed the blast on a large stockpile of ammonium nitrate — a component of fertilizer that is potentially explosive — that was stored for years in unsafe conditions at the port. The government on August 5 ordered port officials to be placed under house arrest.

Media reports say the ammonium nitrate that exploded was likely unloaded there years earlier from a cargo ship