FBI to examine events of Beirut explosion

A senior U.S. official visiting Beirut's now destroyed port on Saturday (August 15) called for a "thorough, transparent and credible" investigation into the blast that killed 172 people and injured 6,000.

David Hale is the U.S. Under-Secretary of State for Political Affairs.

''We can never go back to an era in which anything goes at the port or the borders of Lebanon that had to contribute to this situation and I think it's very important the Lebanese people will have to determine how best to do that.

The devastating explosion occurred on August 4th and authorities say it was caused by more than 2,000 tonnes of ammonium nitrate, which had been unsafely stored at the port for seven years.

"Every sovereign state controls its ports and its borders thoroughly and I imagine all Lebanese would like to return to that era,"

Vast swathes of damage were inflicted throughout city and left 300,000 homeless.

Some 30 people remain missing.

Hale added that FBI agents would be arriving this weekend to help find out what exactly happened and "what led to the circumstances of this explosion".

Lebanon's President Michel Aoun has said investigators were looking into negligence, an accident or even "external interference".