Lebanon's health minister says that at least 135 people were killed and 5,000 wounded in a massive explosion that shook Beirut on Tuesday, according to CNN.  Hundreds have been reported missing, raising fears that the death toll will rise.

Al-Jazeera says Beirut's city governor Marwan Abboud said up to 300,000 people have lost their homes and authorities are working on providing them with food, water and shelter.

Authorities reportedly declared Beirut a "disaster city" and imposed a two-week state of emergency

Information minister says army will oversee house arrest of those responsible for storage and guarding at Beirut port, according to Al-Jazeera.

The explosion on Tuesday sent shockwaves across the city, causing widespread damage as far as the outskirts of Beirut.

Officials said they expect the death toll to rise further as emergency workers dig through the rubble to search for survivors.

The cause of the explosion was not immediately clear.  Officials linked the blast to some 2,750 tons of confiscated ammonium nitrate that were being stored in a warehouse at the port for six years.

The New York Times says the chemical cache that apparently exploded was not supposed to be in Lebanon, but arrived there on a troubled freighter.