Fog Blog World News Log: Beirut Blast:

Canada will provide up to $5 million in humanitarian assistance to help Lebanon and its people recover from the devastating explosion in Beirut's port.An initial $1.5 million of that funding will go to the Lebanese Red Cross to provide emergency medical services, shelter and food for those affected.In an interview with CBC News, International Development Minister Karina Gould said the money represents Canada's initial commitment and that it could grow in the coming days and weeks as the scale of the disaster becomes more clear."This is about saving lives in the next 48 hours and then making sure that people have access to emergency shelter, food, health care and medicine," Gould said.When Westerners think of Beirut, they might rely on dated notions of the city: a 15-year civil war that ended in 1990; a war with Israel and sporadic airstrikes; bombings of the U.S. Marine barracks and the U.S. Embassy; an attack 15 years ago on the prime minister's convoy.

So it may seem hard to believe that the biggest blast of them all — the one at the Beirut port on Tuesday, which killed some 150 people, wounded thousands and caused destruction across half the city — was an accident, possibly the outcome of neglect on a massive scale.

But that's what signs point to now. Officials have launched an investigation looking at the port warehouse that had held 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate, a chemical used for fertilizer and as an ingredient in bombs. It has fueled many explosions around the world — both accidental and intentional.

Lebanese officials say there has been concern about this volatile cargo for years, something Prime Minister Hassan Diab noted publicly in the first hours after the blast.