Huge explosion in Beirut

JESUS FUCKING CHRIST!!!! That is one hell of an explosion!!

Ammonium Nitrate is thought to be the cause - 78 dead over 4000 injured.
Lebanon and Beirut in particular has always been a powder keg in the Middle East.
I remember seeing the Civil War images from there which was one of the bloodiest and longest civil wars in human history, and just hope this was an unfortunate accident and NOT a incident of a deliberate nature.
I was pretty sure sure reports over the last few years from there had indicated IS had tried to gain to gain a foothold there and can't remember if they are still there or if they were kicked out, just hope those sick bastards have not done this.
If they ARE behind this massive explosion, then it is possible or even likely this could set off a horrific chain of events across the Middle East as a whole and blow the whole region into open warfare and one which could spiral out of control very quickly.

What the world DOESN'T want & doesn't want to see right now is Lebanon spiralling into war. The West MUST act with all the humanitarian aid & Support that it can muster

All thoughts are with those killed and injured and missing.

if its true it was a cargo rescued from a sunken ship, 2700 tonnes - stored for years. did it need to dry out in some way?
IRA used 2 tonnes of it I think when they bombed Canary Wharf.
They say Cyprus heard the explosion 240 km's away.
The death toll will sadly rise as they continue to try and rescue those trapped.

2 tonnes of it was also used in the Oklahoma city bombing that took down the FBI building there

(05-08-2020 14:34 )dirtytommy Wrote:  if its true it was a cargo rescued from a sunken ship, 2700 tonnes - stored for years. did it need to dry out in some way?

Wherever it came from, it's never been in water. AN is highly soluble and would just disappear. In fact it will suck moisture out of the atmosphere if it's exposed.

It seems to have been caused by a fire that started in a nearby building.
2700 t of AN in one warehouse is insanity.

how lethal is it in atmosphere?

(05-08-2020 16:05 )lovebabes56 Wrote:  how lethal is it in atmosphere?

It's not.

It would be the fire that set it off.

It would be very hard to prove if anyone had left it there deliberately considering how corrupt the government is there

I did read that lots of countries offered help. Us, the French of course.
What surprised me was that both Iran...AND Israel offered help, after they said they didn't know anything about it (!)
There are regulations about where chemicals can be stored the world over but the trouble in those parts of the world where the Government is a bit crap is that they can't run their military or finances so things like the storage of fertiliser doesn't even register.
Government a bit crap, that would increasingly have to include The States of course.
Question, do you live near an industrial estate? Do you know what's stored there?

i have heard some quay owners have been placed under house arrest