From moscow to the world this is international my names you know neal hello and welcome. To our breaking news a devastating explosion has hit lebanons capital beirut government officials are saying at least 30 people are dead and more than 2500 injured the blast went off in the citys poor area destroying buildings within a large radius the coals is so far clear it is believed to have set off fuel tanks causing a 2nd reply to a huge fire as well. Or freelance journalist own holo way in beirut on the scribe to us what he saw. In the pump last year starting to break down from a large hole to be. Seen from the right like. The upper right thats a good amount injured. Down suited me she happened to our building the infrastructure over there. Staging. Trucks around you you see behind me. That in terms of the importance of. The structure of. It was very much strain. On going and. Endemic to this country every day im. Taking. A look at right its been. Very very. Positive very very. Lets say trying to find out some more about what happened in beirut we can cross live to a middle east correspondent paula slayer in tel aviv paula this is just hours old of course what occurred but what is known about these tragic developments in lebanon at this stage. Well this is an explosion of president and scale an unprecedented damage you have for example the sound of the explosion being heard in cypress which is 234 kilometers away now according to the interior minister we still dont know what caused it and there is an emerging for any fault for people to wait for an investigation to happen we are hearing figures from the Health Ministry as you mentioned 30 people dead and 3000 injured the red cross say that thousands of people have been injured so we do expect those figures will climb in the coming hours chaos outside the hospitals the hospitals have been turning people away because they simply cannot cope and we know that at least one hospital was was hit during the explosion at the same time this is the biggest explosion in lebanese history with eyewitnesses talking about. A Mushroom Cloud over the city broken glass everywhere destroyed buildings we heard people say that it looked like the scene of a war zone with some of the comments coming out of eyewitnesses now there was a 1st loss that happened at about 66. 00 in the evening but local time its still unclear what caused that blast as i mentioned but there is some speculation that it was an electrical spock the lebanese customs director saying that it was caused by nitrates that housed in a warehouse we highly explosive materials were found and that the initial explosions may have caused and. Which might have been the result and explosion but we still have no confirmation as to that and as to whether or not there was an explosion in the president has been briefed on the situation an investigation has launched and tomorrow and national day of mourning has been declared now we have heard from both israel and his both of whom deny involvement in this blast do we know what he said about that or give us some more background on israel hezbollah the militant group there possible involvement in other. Like or what do we know about whats been said by both israel and hezbollah at this stage paula. Will be israeli denial came within moments we speaking anonymously israeli Officials Say that israel was not behind it and this is because in recent days you have had a rash of tensions between israel and has been that the israeli army has gone on high alert along the northern border and there has been increasing concern that they could be a showdown between israel and hezbollah so there was some speculation that this could have been an attack by israel but as i say were hearing from the israeli side that theyre not responsible now lebanon is a country that is full of sectarian strife hizbollah is. He is a Major Political player there it was also some speculation that his blood might have caused this strike air for to gain political clout a one would have to guess what exactly would be the advantage to the Militia Group in doing so but as i say weve heard from that group too that they are not responsible so despite the speculation the focus at the moment in beirut itself is a lot of messages going off on social media people saying that they were kate calling on loved ones to respond because unfortunately we do suspect that the number of dead will increase as the hours continue when we have been hearing from emergency workers who are struggling to get to people who are trapped beneath the rubble. Yeah we just heard officially lebanon israel has offered its help to lebanon on that line just coming in to us right now paula thank you very much for breaking dawn. The very latest on the tragic event in the lebanese capital. Lets get some more indepth analysis of all of this possible reasons the situation in beirut with historian Mark Alderman he is director of the Crisis Research institute in oxford theres always welcome to the program good to see you lebanon on we know mark was already in a not extremely vulnerable state must civil unrest over the governments handling of the pandemic the the worst economic slump in decades as well how volatile is the situation there. I think this is the real tragedy late for work whos explosion is going to be written the social situation is going through much more explosive because as you were saying weve had Something Like 80 percent of people in living on the breadline because they cannot actually commonly known the currency so truly should become very expensive and one of the casualties this explosion all the grains and storage is at the. The port so that it crosses and shoot up was going to be. Shortage of certain things. So i think the tensions in the society which were already very high and deeply divided society between difference in turn groups Shiite Muslims sunni muslims christians and swarm. And this profound economic and social crisis which was already rocking the stability of the country or that could be made much much worse because even if the current countries sims humanitarian and. To assist in the immediate aftermath of the explosion with National Teams the kind of expensive economic aid needed to keep billions of people alone it is something that just let it come because of course lebanons economic crisis reflects in a sense the economic crisis of arab countries used to have a trade with it used throughout rest of the tourism or thats not happening in the moment because of coping because we all are a skirt so its a very terrible catastrophe even if its completely innocent. Accident its going to have huge knock on effects its just there a number of hours old so a lot of reports coming in that are on verified but one thing we are hearing is set and im not sure whether this is standard procedure in such an event but were hearing that the Lebanese Army has sent troops into the area taking over all districts near the port and it is of course the city center just north of it where the blast happened is there anything to be read into that. The 1st all those offices on suspicion that whatever was being stored in the were houses that erupted in was exposed was perhaps not entirely different though it may just be that it was not a true protoplasm which exploded on the scale that the military rose was it what it is because there are all these tensions between different career military groups hezbollah has a militia which we are used to due to the christian. General who want. His office was rocked by which version so you do have the possibility that it was there or there are a good record stop. And the danger people are going to be in this target tense situation so reaching for what is. Trying to prevent the Lebanese Army is one of the institutions in lebanon that is showing the least amount of politicians on the whole reputed great since contempt most of the public substance but the Lebanese Army is absolutely greek so. Violence between factions its ability to hold the ring is very limited at least thats been the case with recent history so far as you point out theres little to no clarity over what caused this blast both hezbollah and israel have denied involvement in just breaking that down mark if we could israel perhaps we were more aware of possibly why there might be involvement from both sides lebanon israel historically their ties are very strained to say the least theyve also previously said pointed out that arms depo is a mean ition could be stored as youve been going through hezbollah arvo what kind of relationship are they with the lebanese government currently whats the breakdown of that. Clode certainly at the moment has followers is a big component in the background to the Ruling Coalition and so it has in a sense it forms kind of shatter governmental role its my fault most powerful Political Party in lebanon but also because it is a state within a state to some extent it has its own powerful militia we saw back in 2006 it has a militia that was capable of fighting was released to a standstill and that was still forms relations from israel and lebanon and therefore the fear was always that somebody could deliberately or intentionally set off a renewal of the conflict and only in the last week or so weve seen big tensions on the border between lebanon and israel where the. And the hezbollah forces all very well that was apparently an attempt or sense in which to attack the israeli trenchards on and all these things could trigger violence and all such triggers the suspicion which the israelis have very quickly denied that they were involved in this in what has to say that its very unusual clear israelis to claim credit for an attack but in this case they really are anxious to distance and zones and i think that there is a no real desire for a renewed conflict that the dangerous you may not want to have a conflict if you have these kind of think suspicions and resentments between 2 sides who also have all talked with the shadow war in syria has been awful since the iranian us informed the israelis that in itself is in a sense creating a tense atmosphere around this crisis and so was this created completely innocent industrial accident but sadly in lebanon very few people there to believe he was the explanation unless its really shared with her sometimes and by the time shown to be constant time unfortunately the rumor mill and the tensions of it with the rumor mill could have pretty much out of control yet thanks reckon that just on the on whats happening are marking the aftermath Lebanese Health minister has said that 2500 people injured in. Theyd be routes ports blasts we heard the Lebanese Red Cross saying iran 30 minutes ago the 30 people were killed. So youve got the perfect storm havent you youve got protests youve got the sushi oh Economic Situation which was ready in dire straits youve got the pandemic what happens in the aftermath of Something Like this its how well equipped hospitals clinics can deal with it thats normally how death tolls are worked if its if its able to deal with it in an equipped well. Sustained way it will not be the case here are we looking at really a terrible terrible situation. Well it is a terrible situation because already because of the cold it crisis the lebanese Hospital System was stretched by huge numbers of patients by normal standards and then of course because of the economic crisis it is short all supplies so yes because it may covert operations may require different types as well as were there in emergency birds but also the great shortage of all the basic needs and so without rapid foreign help the right there could be quite a number of people whose injuries could turn into fatal who would absent better situation be treated over time certainly the Little People wounded and that is in a sense if it helps to hurt explain why theres such a tense political atmosphere about this because the blame game is going to course go on not only what caused the accident but who should have prevented newton who should have had better civil operations with emergency and continue hospitals and so will be widespread discontent with the political elite that existed before as likely as a result but also depends which part of the politically takes the blame and it may be that its really its highly factionalized to lead in the month or more what was your initial reaction when you saw the pictures because just as youre speaking where were hovering at you with them and they are quite extraordinary the explosion the initial blasts. The reports had fed up it could have been a stash of fireworks had caught fire and then that led to more but given the force of the blast remember it was felt in cyprus were hearing does that seem unlikely. Well it may be that you know theres a lot of hard work set off that loss but it was the 2nd explosion which was the really extraordinary shockwave effect and that would require expose experts to explain there are various arguments that. It reported from the lebanese government that there was a large storage of lies and if you think about it the classic primitive terrorist bomb was to stack the back of a truck with a lot or entrepreneurs and then you know each. And that could insensibly not a terrorist bomb going off but what has happened is that a stop part of my tradition thoughtlessness. And then was also a grain silo nearby and the maybe some impact of that but it is a most. Absolute most dramatic violent urban explosion weve seen since 911 in new york 2001. And of course suddenly remember the reverberations of that incident which was a terrorist incident courseware to unleash all sorts of terrible consequences this may or sadly and of least regional consequences which could be almost as bad as worse people compete to make a great Political Capital out of this disaster one aspect of this that we havent really expanded on with our gas yet wasnt the blast happened near the area where a former Prime Minister rafik hariri was killed by a car bomb 15 years ago night 2005 do you sense that this is going to drive division further ahead of what will be the u. N. Verdict on his killing expected this week on friday. Well if i mean that and of course the Immediate Reaction of so many people in the region and around the world was that it was linked to the impending bertie and maybe it was an attempt acts to either disrupt the social stability before it happened all to kill a political leader a set a sect in general the plan just not he was actually killed it seems that was just part of general chaos all of debris flying around but unfortunately that verdict on friday is now going to be overshadowed by this terrible calamity but its also going to be delivered in this terribly unstable situation would have been highly controversial but again a quick if for the sake while he went People Associated with hezbollah are and syria reconvicted that would no doubt be rejected by the political allies and the court would be accused to be honest if not its kind of commanded by a shia sunni divide to is is that fair to say yes yes of course mr hariri was the leader of so he called the population over lebanon his time of course became Prime Ministers well. The sunnis are relatively small part of the Muslim Population in lebanon the shiites probably a large majority but the sunnis have on the whole historically been a more privileged or more politically influential this is great tensions as his mothers risen irony of lebanese politics is of course of her own actions and as lee has been up in able to mobilize support mass and shiites it has become more and more powerful force and that is being something was even more alarming to the sunni muslims and that traditional dominant leaders down to the christians and in fact we see that person to lebanon which has your christian has tended to get a much better with has been more than hes got on with the Prime Minister of lebanon who has to be so muslim because the constitution is highly sectarian he says positions in government are divided between 3 different wrote religious groups and the shiites are relatively small role in politics under the constitution but they are increasingly the largest sunni group. Mark we really appreciate you giving us so much time and delving into all those subjects all of what is that terrible day in routes thank you very much Mark Alderman director of the Crisis Research institute in oxford. If youre watching are 2 International Just coming up to 20 minutes past 10 pm here in moscow the same time in beirut which is where our breaking news on seoul story this hour comes from a powerful explosion in the lebanese capital leaving many killed or injured the Lebanese Army has taken control of all districts near the port area where the blast happened is just north of the city center on the waterfront the port area very busy what happened just after 6 pm lot of people working a lot of people driving by in what is a busy highway are at the front of it as well the interior minister has said the cause of the explosion is so far although lebanons an internal security chief im just reading has said it happened in an area highly explosive materials the pictures really are quite extraordinary they both israel the Lebanese Militant Group hezbollah of the night and the involvement in it the explosion was reportedly told by a secondary blast when a fuel depo caught fire causing a must of a blast as you can see a lot of Emergency Personnel on the scene trying to put out the blast totally from there we know with the buildings over a wide area the shock waves in fact could be felt as far away as cyprus thats around 250 kilometers over the sea videos posted online have shown the musts of smoke and dust cloud covering central beirut with cars overturned streets blocked by rubble people under the rubble. Of. As well all over the streets. You can see here it is a run 2 kil