-Lebanon's cabinet has placed all officials responsible for Beirut port security since 2014 under house arrest
-Comes after fire at a warehouse sparked a massive explosion that devastated the city, killing at least 135
-Customs officers insisted authorities were repeatedly warned about the danger, but refused to take action
-Explosive chemicals belonged to Russian businessman Igor Grechushkin before being impounded in port
-The storing of ammonium nitrate at the industrial port has been branded a 'crime against humanity'
Lebanon has placed every official responsible for the security of Beirut's port for the last six years under house arrest as it investigates a massive explosion which has devastated the city.
The country's political leaders vowed those responsible for the tragedy would 'pay the price', but customs officials pointed the finger of blame back at them - saying they were repeatedly warned of the danger but failed to act.
It came as an astonishing photo emerged, purporting to show the dock's Warehouse 12 filled with ammonium nitrate - with the highly explosive chemical stored in simple construction sacks with no other protection in place.
The dangerous load is understood to have been abandoned by Russian businessman Igor Grechushkin in September 2013 before eventually being transferred to the port where it remained for six years.
A ship carrying the load was detained en route from Batumi, in the ex-Soviet republic Georgia, to Mozambique, and never recovered.
On Tuesday evening a fire that started in Warehouse 9 ignited 2,750 tons of the chemical - sparking an explosion with three kilotons of force, equivalent to a fifth the size of the Hiroshima nuclear blast.
Raghida Dergham of the Beirut Institute yesterday said: 'Storing Ammonium Nitrate in a civilian port is a crime against humanity that must not go unpunished.
'Condemnations are not enough. I'm safe but devastated. I lost friends. I lost my apartment. Had I been home, I would have lost my life.'
The health minister tonight announced the death toll had risen to 135, with some 5,000 wounded and dozens still missing in Beirut, which officials have called a 'disaster city'.
Lebanon has placed all officials responsible for Beirut's port security for the last six years under house arrest, after a warehouse packed with ammonium nitrate (believed to be pictured here) exploded with the force of a small nuke.
The damaged grain silo and a burnt boat at Beirut's harbour, one day after a powerful twin explosion tore through Lebanon's capital
The dangerous load is understood to have been abandoned by Russian businessman Igor Grechushkin (pictured), who currently lives in Cyprus with his wife Irina
A warehouse fire sparked by a welder set light to 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate that was being stored at the city's port, causing an explosion with force roughly equal to a fifth of the atomic bomb which levelled Hiroshima
Destruction laid bare: Aerial photos show the gutted frames of the warehouses in Beirut's port following the massive explosion yesterday
The Port of Beirut lies in ruin after the explosion, which collapsed the warehouses storing highly flammable ammonium nitrate
The Rhosus ship, which was detained en route from Batumi, in ex-Soviet republic Georgia, to Mozambique and never recovered - leaving its cargo sitting in the port
Satellite pictures show the Orient Queen cruise ship before the blast and then capsized following the explosion in Beirut
Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab pledges £5m aid to Lebanon
Dominic Raab has pledged £5million of international aid to help Lebanon in the aftermath of Beirut's devastating explosion which has killed at least 135.
The Foreign Secretary spoke to Lebanon's prime minister Hassan Diab today to set out what support the UK could offer the country which has been plunged into a state of emergency.
Britain's aid package will also include expert assistance and the potential for a Royal Navy survey ship to help assess the damage caused to the port.
Mr Raab said the Lebanese prime minister told him there would be a 'full, thorough and rigorous investigation to get to the truth – I think the people of the Lebanon deserve no less – and that there will be full accountability'.
The Government has said all embassy staff based in Beirut are accounted for, but some have suffered 'non-life-threatening injuries'.
Mr Raab said the details of Britons caught up in the Beirut blast were still being established.
'We are not sure on the precise figures in relation to UK nationals there, we will obviously want to bottom out that in the days ahead,' the Foreign Secretary said.
'Obviously we have a consular team there which are monitoring that very carefully.'
An official source familiar with preliminary investigations blamed the incident on negligence. Lebanese citizens directed anger at politicians who have overseen decades of state corruption and bad governance that plunged the nation into financial crisis.
Director General of Lebanese Customs Badri Daher said the country's judiciary was told six times about the hazardous chemicals stored in a warehouse in the Lebanese capital.
Customs officials are understood to have asked authorities to move the dangerous substance from Hangar 12 due to the danger they believe it posed to the city and given to the army or sold to an explosives company.
'We requested that it be re-exported but that did not happen. We leave it to the experts and those concerned to determine why,' Daher said.
Another source close to a port employee said a team that inspected the ammonium nitrate six months ago warned that if it was not moved it would 'blow up all of Beirut'.
Prime Minister Hassan Diab vowed those responsible will 'pay the price' as he declared a two-week state of emergency to deal with the crisis, urging all world leaders and 'friends of Lebanon' to donate aid to the country, adding: 'We are witnessing a real catastrophe.'
Documents published online suggested it could be given to the army or sold to an explosives company, but did not receive any replies, leaving the explosive cargo languishing in the now destroyed port area of the capital.
Ammonium nitrate is a chemical used in fertiliser bombs and is widely used by the construction industry but also by insurgent groups such as the Taliban and the IRA for improvised explosives.
As residents survey the wreckage of their city this morning and mourn loved ones they are quickly turning to anger at who is to blame for the devastating blast that is already struggling economically and from the impact of coronavirus.
The 2,750 ton cargo - officially saltpetre - was confiscated in September 2013 from the Moldovan-flagged ship called Rhosus en route from Batumi, in ex-Soviet republic Georgia, to Mozambique, it has emerged.
Igor Grechushkin - who currently lives in Cyprus with wife Irina - has been accused of abandoning his ship in Beirut loaded with the lethal load.
The Cypriot security services are urgently seeking a Russian man linked to the explosion in Beirut, according to the Greek media.
The 2,750 ton cargo - officially saltpetre - was confiscated en route from Batumi, in ex-Soviet republic Georgia, to Mozambique.
Diggers at the blast site of the explosion after the Port of Beirut was left in ruin
An aerial view shows the massive damage at Beirut port's grain silos and the area around it
Moment by moment: How the Beirut blast unfolded in Lebanon
Lebanon has begun the daunting task of trying to clean up its capital Beirut after a devastating explosion tore apart the city's port (pictured) and caused damage across the city after several tons of explosive chemicals ignited
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A before and after image showing the damage caused to Beirut's harbour, including the complete destruction of the warehouse storing the chemicals and the ground underneath it
Beirut explosion was one of the biggest non-nuclear blasts in history, experts say
The Beirut explosion is 'unquestionably' one of the largest non-nuclear blasts in history, according to calculations by British engineering experts.
A team from the University of Sheffield has calculated the strength of the blast based on the videos and photographs which have emerged since Tuesday's catastrophe.
They believe the explosion was the equivalent of 1,000 to 1,500 tonnes of TNT - a blast intensity which would support the belief that it was caused by a fire leading to the detonation of 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate fertiliser.
This is about a tenth of the intensity of the Hiroshima nuclear bomb but far bigger than any blast from a conventional weapon.
Professor Andy Tyas, an expert on blast protection engineering at the university, said: 'There are simple rules of thumb relating the maximum expansion of the fireball to the size of the original explosive charge, and from some very approximate measurements from online video footage, we think the explosion is equivalent to something of the order of 1,000-1,500 tonnes of TNT.
'We have also analysed video footage of the time delay between the detonation and the arrival of the shock wave at points several hundred metres from the explosion and these broadly agree with this size of charge.
'If correct, that would mean this explosion had perhaps 10 per cent of the intensity of the Hiroshima bomb.
'Whatever the precise charge size, this is unquestionably one of the largest non-nuclear explosions in history, far bigger than any conventional weapon.'
Four sailors were forced to remain in the vessel to ensure its safety and in July 2014, a maritime website reported: 'Crew kept hostage on a floating bomb'.
Their plight led to a hunger strike before eventually they were permitted to leave and return home, where they demanded £100,000 of wages.
They claimed that motorbike fan Grechushkin claimed he had gone bankrupt and 'abandoned the ship.'
Most of the cargo was then stored in the 12th berth at the port in Beirut after it was seized by the Lebanese authorities.
REN TV in Moscow said Grechushkin's ship was detained and the contents were confiscated 'due to the lack of documents and conditions necessary for transportation'.
Grechushkin had to pay a 'huge penalty', and as a result, he 'initiated bankruptcy proceedings'.
Neither the businessman nor his family has commented so far on the horrific explosion in Beirut, nor their version of the fate of the cargo.
The first warning about the potential danger of the chemicals stored at the port came on June 27, 2014 from then-director of Lebanese Customs Shafik Merhi, as reported by Al-Jazeera.
Officials then sent further letters of increasing urgency about the danger the hazardous chemicals posed to the Lebanese judiciary.
One letter sent in 2016 said: 'In view of the serious danger of keeping these goods in the hangar in unsuitable climatic conditions, we reaffirm our request to please request the marine agency to re-export these goods immediately to preserve the safety of the port and those working in it, or to look into agreeing to sell this amount'to the Lebanese Explosives Company.'
The missives were never replied to despite the obvious danger they posed to the city.
In 2017 new customs chief Daher implored the judge to make a decision in regards to the chemicals, but they were left sitting in a hangar.
The US, UK, France, Gulf states and even bitter rivals Israel have offered money and assistance, as President Michel Aoun declared three days of mourning and announced he would release $66million of emergency funds.
France says it is sending two planes with dozens of emergency workers, a mobile medical unit and 15 tons of aid. French President Emmanuel Macron's office says the aid should allow for the treatment of some 500 victims.
French peacekeepers stationed in Lebanon, a former French protectorate, have been helping since the explosions, Macron's office said.
Jordan says a military field hospital including all necessary personnel will be dispatched, according to the Royal Court. Egypt has opened a field hospital in Beirut to receive the wounded.
Czech Interior Minister Jan Hamacek says Lebanon has accepted an offer to send a team of 37 rescuers with sniffer dogs to Beirut. Denmark says it is ready to provide humanitarian assistance to Lebanon, and Greece says it is ready to help Lebanese authorities 'with all means at its disposal.'
Fires were still burning at the destroyed port on Wednesday morning as the full extent of the devastation - in a country that was already in the midst of an economic crisis - was laid bare
Members of a Dutch Urban search and rescue team (USAR) board the plane at Eindhoven Air Base. The Netherlands is sending the team to Beirut to help find people who are missing after Tuesday's explosions
Members of German Federal Agency for Technical Relief arrive for their departure to Beirut at international airport in Frankfurt am Main, Germany
A member of the Lebanese security forces inspects damages in the Parliament building in the central district of the capital Beirut
Survivors of the blast which devastated Beirut overnight were sifting through the ruins of the city on Wednesday for bodies as the death toll rose to 100 with more than 4,000 wounded, and hospitals struggling to cope
A member of the Lebanese security forces inspects damages in the Parliament building in the central district of the capital Beirut
Survivors of the blast which devastated Beirut overnight were sifting through the ruins of the city on Wednesday for bodies as the death toll rose to 100 with more than 4,000 wounded, and hospitals struggling to cope
A helicopter flies above the port which has been destroyed by the explosion yesterday that has left thousands of people destitute
The destroyed port in the aftermath of a massive explosion in downtown Beirut yesterday that has so far killed more than 100 people
The destroyed port in the aftermath of a massive explosion in downtown Beirut yesterday that has so far killed more than 100 people
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