Beirut explosion shatters windows across Lebanese capital

[angrychair]

Source: Cnn

A large explosion ripped through the Lebanese capital Beirut on Tuesday, injuring people and smashing windows in buildings across the city.

The source of the explosion was a major fire at a warehouse for firecrackers near the port in Beirut, the state-run National News Agency reported. Local news reported large numbers of wounded people.

Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/04/middleeast/beirut-explosion-port-intl/index.html

[neohippie]

1. Reported to be a fireworks related explosion

Link to tweet

#BREAKING - #Lebanese media claims the MASSIVE #explosions in #Beirut occurred in a fireworks warehouse. Fireworks can be seen in the video, moments later a secondary explosion caused most of the damage. #Lebanon




Not sure that second explosion is how fireworks explode... I'm sure the story is going to be updated


Here was the first post I saw on this

Link to tweet

[dhol82]

2. That was a shitload of firecrackers!

The explosion must have taken out at least a twenty block area.

[neohippie]

3. more news

now hearing that secondary explosions may have been chemical plants but no direct sources

Here is an aftermath video from youtube

&feature=youtu.be

[dhol82]

5. More videos

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2020/08/04/beirut-lebanon-explosion-causes-destruction-people-wounded-near-port/3289423001/


It will be interesting to hear what caused it.

[catbyte]

4. Wow, you could see them going off before the big kaboom. How awful.

[hack89]

6. There is a good reasons fireworks sold in America are made overseas

it is dangerous as hell.

[yaesu]

7. watched the explosion on skynews, it was huge, a port location, maybe a fireworks factory

Link to tweet

[Eugene]

8. Massive blast in Beirut kills at least 10 people and injures hundreds

Source: Reuters

WORLD NEWS AUGUST 4, 2020 / 11:25 AM / UPDATED 9 MINUTES AGO

Massive blast in Beirut kills at least 10 people and injures hundreds

BEIRUT (Reuters) - A huge explosion near the centre of Beirut killed at least 10 people, injured hundreds and sent shockwaves across the Lebanese capital, shattering windows and causing apartment balconies to collapse, witnesses and security sources said.

The most powerful explosion to hit Beirut in years shook the ground, leaving some residents thinking an earthquake had struck. Dazed and weeping, some of them wounded, people walked through streets checking to see if relatives were hurt.

The blast occurred in the city’s port area, where there were warehouses housing explosives, Lebanon’s state news agency NNA and two security sources said. A third security source said there were chemicals stored in the area.

Footage of the blast shared by residents on social media showed a column of smoke rising from the port district followed by an enormous blast. Those filming what initially appeared to be a big blaze were thrown backwards by the shock of the explosion.

-snip-

Read more: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-lebanon-security-blast/massive-blast-in-beirut-kills-at-least-10-people-and-injures-hundreds-idUSKCN25021M

[muriel_volestrangler]

9. Lebanon's interior minister says ammonium nitrate likely caused explosion

Mohamed Fehmi has just told the MTV Lebanon channel the explosion appeared to have been caused by “huge quantities of ammonium nitrate” being stored at the port.

This backs up what the custom’s director-general was quoted as saying to another Lebanese news channel, Al Mayadeen.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2020/aug/04/beirut-explosion-huge-blast-port-lebanon-capital?page=with:block-5f29a3668f08ab0eb340027e#block-5f29a3668f08ab0eb340027e

Marwan Abboud, the governor of Beirut, has arrived at the site of the explosion, where he broke down in tears while speaking to reporters.

He tells a Lebanese journalist that he’s there to search for firefighters who were on the site fighting the fire that broke out before the explosion.

“They came to fight the fire, and then they vanished,” he says. “We don’t know where they are. We’re here to look for them.

An earlier tweet, though now deleted, said:

Head of General Security says the blast was caused by a fire in a depot of highly explosive material, including Sodium nitrate, at Beirut's port. He said that material was confiscated from a ship months ago and stored there."

[cagefreesoylentgreen]

10. Not buying it

Most fertilizer companies changed their ammonium nitrate formula to be less explosive after the first World Trade Center bombing and the Oklahoma City bombing.

This feels like something else. I read a report saying it was stockpile of sodium nitrate that had been confiscated off a cargo ship sometime before and no one had thought it secure it.

ETA: sorry, I didn’t see your full post before I replied

[muriel_volestrangler]

11. From a woman who used to work in arms proliferation control for the US government

Link to tweet

The red cloud is NO2, the product of a nitrate explosion. The smooth white cloud that rapidly expands is water condensing in the shock wave.

https://www.balloon-juice.com/2020/08/04/enormous-explosion-in-port-of-beirut-lebanon/

When you say "most fertilizer companies", do you mean American ones, or all over the world?

[Old Crank]

14. In a couple of videos you can see

fireworks going off before the big bang. This could easily be an nasty accident. Some one got careless and they couldnt put the fire that started out before the main storehouse(s) went..

[nitpicker]

12. Update from BBC

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-53656220

Beirut blast: Dozens dead and thousands injured, health minister says
18 minutes ago

A large blast in the Lebanese capital, Beirut, has killed at least 27 people and injured more than 2,500 others, the health minister says.

It is not yet clear what caused the explosion in the port region. Videos posted online showed a column of smoke followed by a large mushroom cloud.

Hospitals are said to be overwhelmed and many buildings have been destroyed.

Lebanon's internal security chief said the blast happened in an area housing highly explosive materials.

A BBC journalist at the scene reported dead bodies and severe damage, enough to put the port out of action.
(snip)

[whistler162]

13. Hey Israel do a mitzvah and offer

medical personnel and other support.

[Behind the Aegis]

21. Israel offers Lebanon assistance after massive, deadly explosion in Beirut

Israel has offered Lebanon humanitarian assistance after a massive explosion at Beirut’s waterfront killed at least 30 people and injured thousands.

Israel’s defense minister Benny Gantz announced the offer on Twitter. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli army and at least one Israeli hospital also offered aid.

Because Lebanon and Israel are still technically in a state of war, the offers are being extended through third-party diplomatic channels.

“Under the direction of Minister of Defense, Benny Gantz and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Gabi Ashkenazi, Israel approached Lebanon through international defense and diplomatic channels to offer the Lebanese government medical humanitarian aid,” Gantz tweeted.

“This is the time to rise above any conflict,” tweeted the spokesperson for the Israel Defense Forces, Hidai Zilberman.

more...

[muriel_volestrangler]

15. Death toll climbs to 78 with 4,000 injured; 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate

Lebanon’s health minister told Reuters that the death toll from a massive explosion in the capital Beirut on Tuesday had reached 78, adding that nearly 4,000 people had been injured.

“There are many people missing until now. People are asking the emergency department about their loved ones and it is difficult to search at night because there is no electricity,” minister Hamad Hasan told Reuters. “We are facing a real catastrophe and need time to assess the extent of damages.”

https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2020/aug/04/beirut-explosion-huge-blast-port-lebanon-capital?page=with:block-5f29ddec8f08ab0eb340048d#block-5f29ddec8f08ab0eb340048d

Link to tweet

Link to tweet

[Massacure]

23. That's a hair over 2 kilotons of TNT equivalent

Ammonium Nitrate has about 74% of the energy of TNT when detonated. To put this blast into perspective, it is 1/8 the power of the atom bomb dropped on Hiroshima and 1/10 the power of the one dropped on Nagasaki.

It's amazing the death toll is measured in in dozens and not in hundreds or in thousands.

[Stuart G]

16. Horrific, Very Sad...

[Warpy]

17. This could not have happened in a worse time or place

Decades of dumbassery have left the economy in a mess. The currency has lost 80% of its value. The American University Hospital, where most of the wounded are being taken, has recently had to lay off hundreds of nurses because there is simply no money to pay them since the government has not been supporting the hospital.

Buildings have collapsed, windows are out miles from the explosion, and there is no money to fix anything.

I hope for once our government can forgive them for speaking Arabic while being brown and send some actual help.

[machoneman]

18. Yep, ammonium nitrate. Sad in that the government said they seized it long ago.

I'd bet they seized a big shipment bound for one of the militias (which one, who knows?) to create far smaller bombs. Why it wasn't used up (in agricultural or industrial settings) and quickly to minimize the damage or have it stored in an area far inland like a real military would store aerial bombs, rockets, etc in large bunkers.

[Warpy]

19. Probably because the country is such a mess right now

The government is broke, the currency is close to worthless, and they couldn't see their way clear to distribute it to farmers who couldn't pay for it, which I'm sure the Lebanese people are going to view as the biggest sin of all, that they hadn't at least sold it offshore to generate some hard currency.

If we don't manage to get rid of our own present bunglers and mobsters, this is likely to be the sort of thing we'll be facing.

[roamer65]

20. Reminds me of the PEPCON disaster.

[uppityperson]

22. Firefighters killed. Oh, Lebanon!