Landmine clearance charity warns of more sites like Beirut across the world
An international landmine clearance charity, based in Dumfries and Galloway, is warning that there are many other sites around the world similar to the one that was the source of an explosion in Beiruit.
The Halo Trust says large, unplanned detonations are becoming more frequent, and staff from the charity have seen the devastating consequences first hand.
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The capital of Lebanon has been left devastated after a blast, allegedly caused by the ignition of 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate - a chemical used for explosives and fertiliser, that had been stored at the port since it was confiscated from an impounded cargo ship in 2013.
More than 145 people have died and 5,000 others are injured after the explosion on Tuesday, which could be felt as far as 150 miles away.
The Halo Trust is a charity that specialises in removing debris left behind by war, in particular land mines.
ITV Border spoke to Simon Conway, from the organisation. who said: "I think it's partly to do with the age of ammunition.
"There's a huge quantity of ammunition and explosives out there that have been in circulation - some of it since the Second World War - but a lot of it left over from the Cold War when vast amounts were distributed across the developing world.
"We're finding very large stores of ammunition and explosives spread around the world; often in very densely populated areas."
Simon personally witnessed similar events to Beirut in the Congo while working for the Halo Trust. He said: "I was there in 2012, just after an explosion had happened right in the middle of the city.
"It was a shipment of ammunition nitrate - exactly the same as in Beirut - that caught fire and detonated right next to a warehouse that was full of 50-year-old aircraft bombs.
"It created the largest crater I have ever seen, it was about 70 or 80 metres across and about 500 people died and thousands were injured.
"We saw very much the same kind of impact that you're seeing in Beirut now. The hospitals were completely overwhelmed."
The Trust is now warning of similar sites across the world and is urging for more action to be taken to stop incidents like the Beirut explosion from happening again.
"What we need to do is get Governments to understand. They only accept that it's a problem after the detonation has happened" Simon said.
"A lot of lives would be saved and a lot of money would be saved too if we prevented these things from happening rather than responding to them afterwards."