Massive Explosion in Beirut

[KingsX]

The explosion at Beirut port was so massive, some are comparing it to a nuke!





Beirut blast: Dozens dead and thousands injured

4 August 2020

" 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. Reuters news agency quotes sources as saying 10 bodies have been pulled from the wreckage. "

more at link

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

[KingsX]

27 killed, 2,500 hurt as massive blast rocks Beirut, causing widespread carnage


" 'It was like a nuclear explosion,' said Walid Abdo, a 43-year-old school teacher in the neighborhood of Gemayzeh near Beirut."

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" Miles from the port, balconies were knocked down, windows shattered, streets were covered with glass and bricks and lined with wrecked cars."

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" 'What we saw looked like Hiroshima or Nagasaki. It’s absolutely unprecedented in Lebanon’s history,' said Beirut Governor Marwan Aboud, before bursting into tears. "

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" The blasts were heard as far away as Nicosia on the eastern Mediterranean island of Cyprus, 240 kilometers (150 miles) away. "

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" The incident came as tensions have been high on the Israeli-Lebanese border... "


more at link

https://www.timesofisrael.com/massiv...e-across-city/

[Bear]

Ammonium nitrate go boom.

[Off-Grid Organics]

Ammonium nitrate go boom.

"caused by an estimated 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate left unsecured for 6 years in a warehouse"

[Lenno]

Breaking: Massive Explosion In Beirut, Many Injured, Lots Of Damage

several vids

[merovingian]

OR

[KingsX]

"Good guys" ??

You sure about that ?!

[Lenno]

TERRIFYING MOMENT — Massive Bomb Blast Wave Hits Church During Maronite Mass (VIDEO)

[Idaho Bullwinkle]

Is Ammonium nitrate (AN) a red powder?
I see a large reddish brown smoke or powder cloud before the explosion.
Was the AN dissipating and less contained to explode?
Would the air mixed with the AN make the explosion worse, kind of like grain dust?
There appeared to be a lot of the red/brown cloud even after the explosion.
I understand AN needs to be packed tight along with an oil to do any good.
As I have read, an AN explosion is relatively slow.
The explosion in Beirut appeared to be too sudden for AN.
Just asking

[Stustage]

Is Ammonium nitrate (AN) a red powder?

apparently it will explode red if it doesn't completely burn but i suggest that the red dust if from vaporized bricks. there is a before and after picture where it looks like a ton of red 'dust' on the ground afterwards. It could have been a fertilizer bomb but causing a 3.3 magnitude quake i think it was a bunker buster or similar.

from another forum:

That thick red smoke is NOx - a byproduct of incomplete combustion of ammonium nitrate. That much and that thick of smoke to me suggests a severely under fueled ANFO reaction. So that makes sense to me. An old dirty warehouse could have a couple hundred tons of oil or diesel that might have created the fuel for a pile this big. Alternatively, it might not have been raw fertilizer, it could have been dry ANFO. Generally this stuff needs confinement to go off, but a 2,700 tonne pile would have an element of self-confinement, just due to its size. In the grand scheme of things, this isn't that much bulk explosives. An average size mine in Canada would go through 60 to 100 tonnes of explosives per day. I've personally witnessed days where we have loaded 200 tonnes. 2,700 tonnes would be about 65 super-b trucks full of powder.

But the issue is that its actually not that easy to ignite ammonium nitrate. It's generally a booster sensitive product - you aren't going to set this stuff off with a stray match or a cigarette butt. You'd need a VERY intense fire, or some other high explosive to kick start the reaction. Either it was deliberate, and someone wanted to set it off... or it was pure stupidity to store that much bulk explosive in the port next to other explosives that could potentially trigger a reaction.

It will be interesting to see what direction this takes.