Large explosion in Beirut - hundreds reported injured

[The Alma Mater]

Wouldn't that just make them look like idiots once the truth about the fertilizer came out?

There will always be a significant amount of people that would believe their version over fertiliser. Call it alternative facts.

[Nobel Hobos 2]

Having seen video of it, I imagine the shock-wave killed hundreds of people. It's terrible.

[The Alma Mater]

It was apparently sitting there for six years and not stored properly.

Edit: Welding work was being carried out on a door next to the warehouse, which could explain the sparks set off the ammonium nitrate.

My theory is someone in the country known for its civil war decided to store bomb making material at the Port and they forgot about it.

Then it caught fire and exploded.

Apparantly it was confiscated years ago.
Why it remained there is another question not yet answered. Costs probably. And forgotten.

[Nobel Hobos 2]

It was apparently sitting there for six years and not stored properly.

Edit: Welding work was being carried out on a door next to the warehouse, which could explain the sparks set off the ammonium nitrate.

My theory is someone in the country known for its civil war decided to store bomb making material at the Port and they forgot about it.

Then it caught fire and exploded.

Maybe over time it degraded. But according to Mythbusters you need a detonator to create an explosion rather than just a fire. Also, Timothy McVeigh used a detonator.

[Central Plain]

Pray for Beirut.

[Borderlands of Rojava]

There's only one thing we know for certain right now.

This shit is fucked yo.

[Nobel Hobos 2]

My theory is someone in the country known for its civil war decided to store bomb making material at the Port and they forgot about it.

Then it caught fire and exploded.

Apparantly it was confiscated years ago.
Why it remained there is another question not yet answered. Costs probably. And forgotten.

That's it, we've confiscated it so everyone is safe. Let's store it in the one place of the city where the most cargo is trucked in and out, that way someone is bound to notice if it's being stolen ... big brain bureaucracy!

[Heloin]

At least 78 dead, 3700 wounded. There was indeed a huge storage of ammonium nitrate in the area; so probably no bomb.

It was apparently sitting there for six years and not stored properly.

Edit: Welding work was being carried out on a door next to the warehouse, which could explain the sparks set off the ammonium nitrate.

If you live near a port there is a warehouse or several with this exact problem.

[Godular]

My theory is someone in the country known for its civil war decided to store bomb making material at the Port and they forgot about it.

Then it caught fire and exploded.

Maybe over time it degraded. But according to Mythbusters you need a detonator to create an explosion rather than just a fire. Also, Timothy McVeigh used a detonator.

Apparently the Ammonium Nitrate happened to be stored near a warehouse full of firecrackers...

It couldn't be set up worse on a sitcom.

[Outer Sparta]

Apparantly it was confiscated years ago.
Why it remained there is another question not yet answered. Costs probably. And forgotten.

That's it, we've confiscated it so everyone is safe. Let's store it in the one place of the city where the most cargo is trucked in and out, that way someone is bound to notice if it's being stolen ... big brain bureaucracy!

The pure negligence with this huge ammonium nitrate and how it was handled stands out the most.

[Heloin]

That's it, we've confiscated it so everyone is safe. Let's store it in the one place of the city where the most cargo is trucked in and out, that way someone is bound to notice if it's being stolen ... big brain bureaucracy!

The pure negligence with this huge ammonium nitrate and how it was handled stands out the most.

I really don't want to sound like a broken record player, but the real scary thing is that it was probably handled and stored only slightly worse then just about anywhere else. Just not to the same quantities anywhere else, aside from chemical plants.

[Nobel Hobos 2]

That's it, we've confiscated it so everyone is safe. Let's store it in the one place of the city where the most cargo is trucked in and out, that way someone is bound to notice if it's being stolen ... big brain bureaucracy!

The pure negligence with this huge ammonium nitrate and how it was handled stands out the most.

Pictures I'm seeing now show that all the nearby buildings destroyed were warehouses. So, relatively low occupancy. Maybe not the worst place in the city to store the stuff after all. Still, in the countryside would have been better.

[Godular]

The pure negligence with this huge ammonium nitrate and how it was handled stands out the most.

Pictures I'm seeing now show that all the nearby buildings destroyed were warehouses. So, relatively low occupancy. Maybe not the worst place in the city to store the stuff after all. Still, in the countryside would have been better.

One saving grace in all this is that the blast was centered on the docks, so about half of the blast was over water rather than populated areas.

[Vistulange]

Never attribute to malice what can simply be explained by incompetence and idiocy.

Under the assumption that this was not a terror attack - and it doesn't look like it thus far - this tragedy is probably the biggest example of how incompetence kills.

President Michel Aoun said 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate had been stored unsafely in a warehouse for six years.

This is why competent bureaucrats and clerks are important at every level. From the sound of it, something like this pretty much could have happened since 2014-ish. Almost 3,000 tonnes of ammonium nitrate. Fuck's sake.

[Pilipinas and Malaya]

Never attribute to malice what can simply be explained by incompetence and idiocy.

Under the assumption that this was not a terror attack - and it doesn't look like it thus far - this tragedy is probably the biggest example of how incompetence kills.

President Michel Aoun said 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate had been stored unsafely in a warehouse for six years.

This is why competent bureaucrats and clerks are important at every level. From the sound of it, something like this pretty much could have happened since 2014-ish. Almost 3,000 tonnes of ammonium nitrate. Fuck's sake.

Six years?? Holy frick.

[Godular]

Never attribute to malice what can simply be explained by incompetence and idiocy.

Under the assumption that this was not a terror attack - and it doesn't look like it thus far - this tragedy is probably the biggest example of how incompetence kills.



This is why competent bureaucrats and clerks are important at every level. From the sound of it, something like this pretty much could have happened since 2014-ish. Almost 3,000 tonnes of ammonium nitrate. Fuck's sake.

Six years?? Holy frick.

And let us not forget the nearby warehouse full of firecrackers.

[-Ocelot-]

Unbelievable

[Nobel Hobos 2]

As a guess, maybe they were storing so much of it as insurance against Israel blockading them as it does to the Gaza strip.

[Neanderthaland]

As a guess, maybe they were storing so much of it as insurance against Israel blockading them as it does to the Gaza strip.

I don't see how that would work. Ammonium nitrate is not normally used in weapons, and having a big stockpile of explosives that might as well say "bomb here to destroy our entire port infrastructure" isn't a great military strategy.

[Nobel Hobos 2]

As a guess, maybe they were storing so much of it as insurance against Israel blockading them as it does to the Gaza strip.

I don't see how that would work. Ammonium nitrate is not normally used in weapons, and having a big stockpile of explosives that might as well say "bomb here to destroy our entire port infrastructure" isn't a great military strategy.

Ammonium Nitrate is not really explosive, but with 5% fuel oil added to it, makes ANFO. An explosive so good it's used in mining.

The reference to Israel and Gaza is that Israel filters out imports to Gaza which could be used as weapons, or defences. I'm not sure if they still do, but they were banning import of cement because it could be used to make bunkers or tunnels. Cement is obviously useful for a lot of other things.

So imagine a state of hostility breaks out between Israel and Lebanon, and Israel tries to blockade Lebanon for war materials. That would include Ammonium Nitrate ... despite it having a good use as fertilizer. I'm not blaming Israel, rather I'm saying Lebanon had a good reason to stockpile Ammonium Nitrate. Ie for use as fertilizer.

[Costa Fierro]

As a guess, maybe they were storing so much of it as insurance against Israel blockading them as it does to the Gaza strip.

One of the generals in the Lebanese Army was referencing "confiscated material" that makes it sound like he was referencing the nitrate as being the confiscated material.

[Picairn]

Is Beirut trying to establish itself as the bombing capital of the world?

[Vassenor]

Is Beirut trying to establish itself as the bombing capital of the world?

How do you get that from what appears to have been an accident?

[Artarum]

I don't see how that would work. Ammonium nitrate is not normally used in weapons, and having a big stockpile of explosives that might as well say "bomb here to destroy our entire port infrastructure" isn't a great military strategy.

Ammonium Nitrate is not really explosive, but with 5% fuel oil added to it, makes ANFO. An explosive so good it's used in mining.

The reference to Israel and Gaza is that Israel filters out imports to Gaza which could be used as weapons, or defences. I'm not sure if they still do, but they were banning import of cement because it could be used to make bunkers or tunnels. Cement is obviously useful for a lot of other things.

So imagine a state of hostility breaks out between Israel and Lebanon, and Israel tries to blockade Lebanon for war materials. That would include Ammonium Nitrate ... despite it having a good use as fertilizer. I'm not blaming Israel, rather I'm saying Lebanon had a good reason to stockpile Ammonium Nitrate. Ie for use as fertilizer.

It makes sense, perhaps, to stockpile ammonium nitrate. A bit more nonsensical to stockpile such large amounts of it right beside a critical piece of infrastructure, your country's most major port, which is most likely going to be a critical target for an enemy in a conventional war. Were Israel and Lebanon to go to war, I think it's a fair expectation for the Israelis to target Lebanese infrastructure, which means that said warehouses could well be bombed, either intentionally or by accident.

This really looks like gross incompetence leading to a massive tragedy.

[Picairn]

How do you get that from what appears to have been an accident?

Accident? How? Ammonium nitrate itself isn't explosive, it's an oxidiser, drawing oxygen to a fire which makes it burn more intensely, which can cause an explosion but only under extreme circumstances. 2,700 tons of it have been sitting in a warehouse for six years without a problem. And now it explodes suddenly like that? Probably intentional, since it requires oil to massively explode. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/ ... se-capital

But still, that's only my suspicion. We will have to wait and see. If it is confirmed, then Beirut will have another bombing in its long list of ones, starting from the barracks bombing of 1983.