Russian businessman’s ‘floating bomb’ behind Beirut explosion: reports

The massive stockpile of fertilizer that exploded this week in Beirut and killed at least 135 people was a known risk for seven years and was even described as a floating bomb by the crew of the Russian cargo ship that brought it to the port city in the first place, reports said.

The 2,750 metric tons of ammonium nitrate the explosive material used in terror attacks like Timothy McVeigh s 1995 bombing that killed 168 in Oklahoma City unexpectedly arrived in Lebanon s capital in 2013 on a cargo ship that was supposed to be heading to Mozambique.

The MV Rhosus, owned by Russian Igor Grechushkin, instead made an unscheduled stop and was abandoned after the motorcycle-loving businessman went bankrupt, according to reports and officials.

Grechushkin currently lives in Cyprus with his wife, Irina, while his 20-year-old son, Artyom, studies computer science at Glasgow University in Scotland, The Siberian Times said.

via nypost.com