There was a big explosion in Beirut Lebanon

[john_pifer]

Not intending to bring P into this, at all. However, the President has said in a news conference that some high-ranking members of our military are of the opinion that this explosion was deliberate in some way. He even used the word "bomb".

Of course, as has already been posted, there are many past instances of accidental/negligent/inadvertent ammonium nitrate detonation.

But, it's also easy to imagine certain radical individuals or organizations in that area targeting a facility that contained thousands of tons of ammonium nitrate. Certainly no shortage of people and groups in that area who espouse radical ideologies.

 

[bdcardinal]

More than eardrums- that was a concussion powerful enough to cause internal injuries and death for a big radius. My unfortunate guess is that the death toll is preliminary and, as a result, very low. It will go up as the wreckage is cleared.

I would assume in an explosion like that, there won.t be much left of any person within a certain distance of the epicenter.

Something I found interetsing is the multiple different videos from different angles and distances showing the sheer force of the explosion. Plus the time it takes for the sound to show up.

 

[dinofish]

Not intending to bring P into this, at all. However, the President has said in a news conference that some high-ranking members of our military are of the opinion that this explosion was deliberate in some way. He even used the word "bomb".

Of course, as has already been posted, there are many past instances of accidental/negligent/inadvertent ammonium nitrate detonation.

But, it's also easy to imagine certain radical individuals or organizations in that area targeting a facility that contained thousands of tons of ammonium nitrate. Certainly no shortage of people and groups in that area who espouse radical ideologies.

It is pretty obvious from that video that this was not a bomb. One has to be completely naive or have an agenda to claim it to be a bomb.

 

[Astro14]

Let’s not speculate any more on the cause, or bring political figures into this, please.

We can all agree that it’s a terrible tragedy. That it’s a horrific, massive explosion.

 

[john_pifer]

 

[Yah-Tah-Hey]

How dumb can you be storing all that explosive material in a high density urban area?

 

[Andrew1972]

This was always a similar fear of the lng tankers coming into Boston full of frozen lng. They got smarter and moved the offloading about 10 miles out off coast so this could not happen .

Sad stuff there. Really neat city I have visited as a
Kid and see relatives.

 

[Andrew1972]

How dumb can you be storing all that explosive material in a high density urban area?

It’s a port Mr Hindsight. Likely was going to move soon ....

 

[spasm3]

How dumb can you be storing all that explosive material in a high density urban area?

They have to unload the large cargo ships somewhere.

 

[Pew]

There's a video somebody took from the building next to it (the only one standing.) I'll see if I can find it again.

 

[RDY4WAR]

Just speculation at this point... but looking at some early reporting, it seems the blast was the equivalent of ~300 tons of TNT. The blast in West, Texas in 2013 at the fertilizer plant was the equivalent of ~10 tons of TNT. It's well short of the Halifax explosion of 1917 which was the equivalent of ~2,900 tons of TNT. I think the Hiroshima nuclear bomb was ~13,000 tons of TNT. That's not to downplay the explosion or damage, but just for comparison. I like statistics.

I'm trying to determine what the reason was for ammonium nitrate to be left sitting around in a port for 6 years. According to information on wikipedia (grain of salt), there had been several requests by the port over those years for approval to dispose of it, and it fell on deaf ears.

 

[Astro14]

It is difficult to comment on the magnitude of that blast, particularly with John Pifer’s pictures, without violating the BITOG profanity censor...just...wow...

 

[bdcardinal]

It’s a port Mr Hindsight. Likely was going to move soon ....

It was there for like 5 or 6 years which is really scary.

 

[Jake_J]

I'm trying to determine what the reason was for ammonium nitrate to be left sitting around in a port for 6 years. According to information on wikipedia (grain of salt), there had been several requests by the port over those years for approval to dispose of it, and it fell on deaf ears.

Keep in mind that Lebanon at this point is a borderline failed state that has sky high inequality with a very corrupt government that is ruled by the wealthy business elite. So it's not hard to imagine a wealthy business owner ignoring some local goverment ordances for years on end with no reprecusions.

 

[kschachn]

At first I couldn’t figure out how ammonium nitrate was exploding by itself. That’s an oxidizer and generally you need a fuel to go along with it. But apparently there is a mechanism for it to explode on its own, or if the stories of fireworks being stored nearby are true, both combined could certainly make a large explosion.

Anyone leaving large quantities of a powerful oxidizer like ammonium nitrate laying around was asking for trouble. Plain and simple.

 

[jhs914]

It’s a port Mr Hindsight. Likely was going to move soon ....

The latest reports are that it was seized cargo that had been at that location for FIVE YEARS!

 

[Andrew1972]

Not surprising for the Middle East and an emerging country to do something like that. We have it really good in US, Canada and and Western Europe in terms of safety.

 

[Dinoburner]

Regrettably it reminds me of Timothy Mcvey

 

[Jackson_Slugger]

I heard the Lebanese authorities took the port administrators into custody...

 

[mattwithcats]

Looks like the grain silos deflected a lot of the blast...

My late Mother was downrange of Texas City in 1947, about 25 miles....
Blew the windows out in her school. They were told not to touch their hair until they could get the glass combed out...