US President Donald Trump says the massive explosion in Beirut on Tuesday seems to be a "bomb of some kind".
The President shared his condolences to the people of Lebanon who were affected by the explosion killing over 73 people, in a statement posted by The White House on Tuesday.
"The United States stands ready to assist Lebanon," he said. "We have a very good relationship with people of Lebanon and we will be there to help."
Trump said he had spoken to US Military officials, who "seemed to feel like this was not some kind of a manufacturing explosion type of event."
"They seemed to think it was an attack - it was a bomb of some kind yes," he said.
Major General Abbas Ibrahim, head of Lebanon's General Security, said the massive blast was caused by confiscated "high explosive materials" stored at the local port.
Ibrahim toured the Beirut port after the explosion, inspecting the damage in the port and surrounding area, according to official state news agency NNA.
"It is not possible to preempt investigations and say that there is a terrorist act, and the word explosives is ridiculous, there are highly explosive materials confiscated for years," he said.
President Michel Aoun has called for an emergency cabinet meeting on Wednesday and said a two-week state of emergency should be declared.
