#Drone footage shows destruction in wake of Beirut explosion

Drone footage shot on Wednesday captures the utter destruction of Beirut’s port district following the massive explosion that killed at least 135 people and injured 5,000 more.

The overhead footage shows leveled buildings, tangled wreckage and burned-out cars strewn in the streets of the port area in the wake of Tuesday’s blast.

The explosion is believed to have emanated from a 2,750-ton cache of ammonium nitrate — commonly used as a fertilizer — left to sit in a warehouse for some six years after it was confiscated from a Russian businessman, according to officials and reports.

It flattened Lebanon’s main grain storage silos, leaving the country with less than a month’s worth of reserves, officials said Wednesday.

The Middle Eastern nation was already battling both the coronavirus pandemic and a crippling economic downturn before Tuesday’s blast, that’s left some 300,000 people homeless.