Massive explosion in Beirut

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A big explosion rocked the port in Beirut, in broad daylight and filmed from seemingly endless angles. It's reported the first explosion involved fireworks, and you can see some going off in some shots before the massive second explosion, which causes a rapidly expanding condensation cloud (something that happens with big shockwaves sometimes), and appears to level the portside warehouses. Hopefully they evacuated the port before the second explosion. There is also aftermath video taken in the neighbourhood next to the port, where it seems every building has had its windows shattered, and some cars have even been overturned. I'd imagine the potential for hundreds, of not thousands, of injuries from flying glass and debris. Not knowing much about Lebanon's coronavirus situation, I hope they've got the surge capacity in their hospitals at the moment.

Here's just one video: https://twitter.com/borzou/status/1290675854767513600/

There's varying reports the second explosion was all the fireworks going off at once, or perhaps chemicals being stored nearby. The second mushroom cloud has a dark red tint. Some nitrogen compound, fertiliser or explosives maybe?
 

Sonya Heaney

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I was following the Al Jazeera live blog, and apparently a lot of injured people are walking into the hospitals and being turned away because there's no room. One of the major hospitals apparently has a lot of damage to its roof from the explosions, so it's not looking great. :(
 

Kjbartolotta

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So my understanding is they seized a big ship of illegal cargo and then just left it there and kinda forgot about it. And I think they're saying it's ammonium nitrate.
 

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I can't imagine there won't be a substantial death toll. That second blast looks horrific.
 

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Wow, just watched a video of someone filming after the first explosion, and the second one took me by complete surprise. It was horrifying .
 

MaeZe

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People don't learn from history. It looks very similar to this tragedy in the US in 1947. Ammonium Nitrate was the source: History: Fertilizer explosion kills 581 in Texas
A giant explosion occurs during the loading of fertilizer onto the freighter Grandcamp at a pier in Texas City, Texas, on April 16, 1947. Nearly 600 people lost their lives and thousands were injured when the ship was literally blown to bits.

Ammonium nitrate was used as an explosive by the U.S. Army in World War II and, after the war ended, production of the chemical continued as its use as a fertilizer became accepted. However, the precautions used in its transport became far more lax in the post-war years.

On April 16, the Grandcamp was being loaded with ammonium nitrate as well as tobacco and government-owned ammunition. Cigarette smoking, although officially banned, was a common practice by longshoremen on the docks. Just two days prior to the explosion, a cigarette had caused a fire on the docks. On the morning of April 16, smoke was spotted deep within one of the Grandcamp‘s holds.

Some water and an extinguisher were used to fight the fire, but hoses were not employed for fear of ruining the cargo; there were already 2,300 tons loaded on the ship. While the ammunition was removed from the ship, the crew attempted to restrict oxygen to the hold in hopes of putting out the fire. Apparently they did not realize that because of ammonium nitrate’s chemical composition, it does not require oxygen in order to burn.

I thought it was 1500 dead but my memory doesn't match the article. And I know it was a ship being loaded on the docks so this is the one I was thinking of.

So fire starts, isn't controlled then kablooie. The death toll is going to be well into the 100s.
 
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Sonya Heaney

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From the Al Jazeera live blog. The death toll is going to be huge. :(

At least three Beirut hospitals destroyed, two damaged
Dr Mirna Doumit, president of the Order of Nurses in Beirut, said three hospitals were completely destroyed in the city.

"So we had to evacuate patients who were in those hospitals to others. In addition, we have two other hospitals that were partially destroyed. So it was a catastrophe and a big hit to the healthcare system, which was already bleeding," she told Al Jazeera from the Lebanese capital.

"We lost three nurses working in the hospitals. I don't find words to describe what happened. It's like we are in a horror film."

I read some more about the disaster in Texas and that everyone gathered to watch the fire, thinking they were safe, instead of getting out of there. The same thing happens over and over through history ... We had a building implosion turn deadly here in the 90s because the government turned it into a "family day out".
 

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This would have been terrible enough without the destroyed hospitals and covid-19 crisis going on. With these additional tragedies, it's simply horrifying. The poor people caught up in this.
 

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Per recent reporting, repeated requests were made to move it by port authorities and the ship's owner, both stating that it was explosive and unsafe stored in that climate. The lack of intelligence in bureaucracy at it's very worst. Just following the rules rather than doing what was needed.
 

Roxxsmom

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There was something odd about that warehouse full of ammonium nitrate too. It had allegedly been sitting there for a long time, evidently forgotten? Aren't harbormasters supposed to know everything that is coming into and leaving their facilities?

Heads will roll, but that won't bring back those killed--already known to be over 100 and counting. We're good at cleaning up messes and finding scapegoats after the fact, we humans. Oh, and we get to add another tragedy to an already long list of notable human-caused industrial disasters, from the Great Boston Molasses flood to Chernobyl. Editing to add Bhopal too, because the Union Carbide fire killed more people than any of the others we know of--thousands in the immediate aftermath. It sickens me that Union Carbide still exists, albeit as a subsidiary of Dow. If corporations are people, surely they should be put to death for mass murder.
 
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MaeZe

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Roxxsmom said:
There was something odd about that warehouse full of ammonium nitrate too. It had allegedly been sitting there for a long time, evidently forgotten? Aren't harbormasters supposed to know everything that is coming into and leaving their facilities?
They did know. There were multiple attempts to get someone to do something but it appears no one forced anyone's hand.
 
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