At least 100 people have been killed and 4000 have been wounded as a large blast hits the Lebanese capital, Beirut on Tuesday, said Hamad Hassan, country's health minister. According to Hassan, thousands of people have sustained injuries as a result of the explosion. Ambulances and aid workers were rushed to the area.

A powerful explosion shook several parts of Beirut, creating a large mushroom cloud and causing extensive damage. Initial reports suggest that the explosion took place in a fireworks warehouse at Pier 12 of Beirut port.

The intensity of the blast was so strong that glass storefronts and windowless across the city were instantly shattered.

What caused the blast?

Lebanese Prime Minister, Hassan Diab, said that the cause of the explosion was approximately 2,700 tonnes of ammonium nitrate stored at a warehouse that has been been the subject of warnings since 2014. Diab said that he would reveal the facts soon. Ammonium nitrate is a common industrial chemical used as a component in mining explosives, but it is not explosive on its own.

However, US President Donald Trump seems to think that it was an attack. While speaking to the press at White House, he claimed that his generals seem to think it was an "attack by a bomb".

Situation in Beirut:

• Several hospitals and infrastructure has been damaged and hospitals are filled with injured
• The nearest hospital to the site of bomb St George's hospital has been completely destroyed
• Qatar has offered to send field hospitals to the disaster-stricken city to offer relief
• Hundreds are now displaced with their homes gone in a split second
• Port area, the epicenter of the blast, has been completely flattened, thus paralyzing any and all economic activity for the country already struggling with the economic crisis

This is a developing story.