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How a massive bomb came together in Beirut's port

By Ben Hubbard, Maria Abi-Habib, Mona El-Naggar, Allison McCann, James Glanz, Anjali Singhvi and Jeremy White
New York Times·
16 mins to read

Fifteen tons of fireworks. Jugs of kerosene and acid. Thousands of tons of ammonium nitrate. A system of corruption and bribes let the perfect bomb sit for years.

Late last year, a new security officer at the port of Beirut stumbled upon a broken door and a hole in the wall of a storage hangar. He peered inside and made a frightening discovery:

Thousands of tons of ammonium nitrate, a compound used in explosives, was spilling from torn bags. In

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