‘Most believe’ Beirut blast ‘accident,’ Esper says, contradicting Trump

WASHINGTON, 06 August. - (ANA) - US Defense Secretary Mark Esper on Wednesday afternoon said that “most believe” a massive explosion that devastated Beirut the day before was “an accident,” contradicting a claim by President Donald Trump that “generals” told him that the blast was an “attack.”

“Still getting information on what happened,” Esper said, speaking at the Aspen Security Forum on Wednesday afternoon. “Most believe that it was an accident as reported and beyond that I have nothing further to report on that. It’s obviously a tragedy.”

The president said “some of our great generals” told him that the blast was “a bomb of some kind.”

The explosion, which flattened central Beirut and has killed more than 100 people as of Wednesday afternoon, took place at a warehouse in Beirut’s port area that Lebanese officials say housed thousands of pounds of explosive materials. The building consensus among Lebanese officials and weapons experts has been that the conflagration was a result of state negligence, and the Lebanese government has announced an investigation into why 2,750 tons of seized ammonium nitrate was left stored at the port for years.   - (ANA) -

AB/ANA/06 August 2020 - - -