The Russian captain of the ship whose impounded cargo of fertiliser is thought to have caused Tuesday’s gigantic explosion in Beirut has said that he’d stopped off in Beirut on the way to Mozambique.

He said that the reason he had stopped off in Beirut’s port was because the owners allegedly had money troubles so he tried unsuccessfully to load a second cargo to fund the passage through the Suez Canal.

Boris Prokoshev told the BBC that Lebanese officials then pursued the owner for unpaid port fees.

He has implied that, by not letting the ship leave, the explosion was the fault of Lebanese officials.

We reported earlier that port officials in Beira, Mozambique denied knowledge that the port was to be the final destination for the ship.