Beirut Explosion Looks Like An Accident — And A Sign Of The Country's Collapse

When Westerners think of Beirut, they might rely on dated notions of the city: a 15-year civil war that ended in 1990; a war with Israel and sporadic airstrikes; bombings of the U.S. Marine barracks and the U.S. Embassy; an attack 15 years ago on the prime minister's convoy.

So it may seem hard to believe that the biggest blast of them all — the one at the Beirut port on Tuesday, which killed some 150 people, wounded thousands and caused destruction across half the city — was an accident, possibly the outcome of neglect on a massive scale.

But that's what signs point to now. Officials have launched an investigation looking at the port warehouse that had held 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate, a chemical used for fertilizer and as an ingredient in bombs. It has fueled many explosions around the world — both accidental and intentional.

Lebanese officials say there has been concern about this volatile cargo for years, something Prime Minister Hassan Diab noted publicly in the first hours after the blast.