President Donald Trump said US military generals have advised him that they “seem to feel” the massive explosion that rocked the city of Beirut, Lebanon’s capital, on Tuesday, killing at least 70 people, was a “terrible attack” likely caused by a bomb.
Trump was asked to explain his calling it an attack over an accident, citing Lebanese officials who say they haven’t yet determined the cause of the blast.
He told reporters at the White House: “It would seem like it based on the explosion. I met with some of our great generals and they just seem to feel that it was. This was not a — some kind of a manufacturing explosion type of an event. … They seem to think it was an attack. It was a bomb of some kind, yes.”
Trump offered condolences to the victims of the explosion, and he said that the United States stands ready to help Lebanon. “It looks like a terrible attack,” he said.
A spokesman from the Pentagon did not comment on the issue Tuesday night, referring instead all questions back to the White House.
We reported that the explosion ripped through a lot of the port and damaged buildings across the capital city, sending a giant mushroom cloud into the sky.
Officials said that more than 3,000 people were injured, with bodies buried in the rubble.
The cause of the explosion was not immediately clear, however initial reports suggested a fire had detonated a bomb in a warehouse at the port.
Chief of Lebanese General Security, Abbas Ibrahim, said it may need been caused by highly explosive materials that were confiscated from a ship a while ago that were being stored at the port.
Local news said the material was ammonium nitrate.
Witnesses said they saw an orange cloud appear, one that looks like when toxic nitrogen dioxide gas is released after an explosion involving nitrates.
How many explosions involved nitrates happen in Beirut that witnesses would know that?
Rich is syndicated opinion columnist for David Harris Jr. and owner of Maga-Chat.com. He writes about politics, culture, liberty and faith.
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