Italy: An explosives expert has revealed that there was no stockpile of ammonium nitrate at the port of Beirut, but the explosion was caused by a military missile.

A bomb blast near the Lebanese capital, Beirut, has killed at least 160 people and injured more than 6,000, officials say.

The blasts were initially blamed on ammonium nitrate, which was said to have been stored at the port of Beirut.

According to a foreign news agency, an Italian explosives expert has revealed that the real cause of the Beirut blasts could not be ammonium nitrate but military missiles.

“I think there were weapons and ammunition at the time of the explosion at the Lebanese port, as confirmed by the fact that there were orange clouds of smoke after the explosion,” Italian expert Danilo Kobe told the Italian newspaper.

“The question is, should there have been many factors to blow up the ammonium nitrate material, otherwise how did it all explode together?” He asked.

The Italian expert explained that a yellow cloud is formed when ammonium nitrate is detonated. Is considered a key element in the preparation.