Beirut blast area housed highly-explosive materials, says Lebanese internal security chief

Lebanon’s internal security chief Abbas Ibrahim said that a massive blast in Beirut’s port area occurred in a section housing highly-explosive materials, and not explosive as had been reported earlier by the official state news agency NNA.

Lebanon’s internal security chief Abbas Ibrahim said that a massive blast in Beirut’s port area occurred in a section housing highly-explosive materials, and not explosive as had been reported earlier by the official state news agency NNA.

Smoke rises in Beirut, Lebanon August 4, 2020. (Reuters photo)

Speaking to reporters in televised remarks, he declined to speculate about the cause of the explosion in Lebanon’s capital, saying “we cannot preempt investigations”.