Massive Explosion in Beirut Lebanon

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pcgeek11

Lifer
Jun 12, 2005
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I have been wondering how that much A-N was stored in an unprotected warehouse with no safeguards inside a port city for 6 years and nobody gave a big damn.

That would be dangerous stored in a proper bunker with deflecting berms etc.
 
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Paratus

Lifer
Jun 4, 2004
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NINTCHDBPICT000600235732.jpg
I have been wondering how that much A-N was stored in an unprotected warehouse with no safeguards inside a port city for 6 years and nobody gave a big damn.

That would be dangerous stored in a proper bunker with deflecting berms etc.
There’s been this pic circulating allegedly showing workman at warehouse (supposedly welding doors to make it more secure)
 

pcgeek11

Lifer
Jun 12, 2005
21,279
4,406
136
NINTCHDBPICT000600235732.jpg

There’s been this pic circulating allegedly showing workman at warehouse (supposedly welding doors to make it more secure)


Yes welding in a doorway with explosives within a few feet.

I am amazed at the stupidity in the entire event.

Sad for all the innocents that dies without a clue.
 
Jan 25, 2011
16,586
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I have been wondering how that much A-N was stored in an unprotected warehouse with no safeguards inside a port city for 6 years and nobody gave a big damn.

That would be dangerous stored in a proper bunker with deflecting berms etc.
You left out next to a fucking fireworks factory/storage facility!
 
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Jhhnn

IN MEMORIAM
Nov 11, 1999
62,365
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I think that was one of the earlier smaller explosions at the fireworks factory. It looks like it was before things really got cooking. I’m guessing they got the fudge out of there before the big one went off.
NINTCHDBPICT000600235732.jpg

There’s been this pic circulating allegedly showing workman at warehouse (supposedly welding doors to make it more secure)

I don't see any evidence of welding. The whole thing started in the warehouse next door, anyway, which was full of fireworks. They're a helluva lot easier to touch off than nitropril.
 

Paratus

Lifer
Jun 4, 2004
16,614
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146
I don't see any evidence of welding. The whole thing started in the warehouse next door, anyway, which was full of fireworks. They're a helluva lot easier to touch off than nitropril.
https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/05/europe/lebanon-russian-ship-blast-intl/index.html

Maintenance was conducted on the warehouse door just hours before the blast on Tuesday, he added. "We were asked to fix a door of the warehouse by State Security and we did that at noon, but what occurred in the afternoon I have no idea," he said.

Maybe I was wrong about the welding but they were definitely working on it

At any rate the ammonium nitrate was confiscated from a Russian freighter who left it there. In the intervening years bureaucrats at the dock filed several memos warning about the danger.
 

[DHT]Osiris

Lifer
Dec 15, 2015
14,006
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https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/05/europe/lebanon-russian-ship-blast-intl/index.html

Maintenance was conducted on the warehouse door just hours before the blast on Tuesday, he added. "We were asked to fix a door of the warehouse by State Security and we did that at noon, but what occurred in the afternoon I have no idea," he said.

Maybe I was wrong about the welding but they were definitely working on it

At any rate the ammonium nitrate was confiscated from a Russian freighter who left it there. In the intervening years bureaucrats at the dock filed several memos warning about the danger.
Ammonium nitrate is fairly hard to ignite all by its lonesome. Welding sparks could do it but it's not often that welding sparks end up on the other side of the weld (welding from the outside, most sparks end up outside). Far more likely imho that something ignited the fireworks next door, and the ample explosions that resulted ended up igniting it. I wonder if they were instructed to weld a large number of doors shut around the dock area? Sealing entrances or whatever? Just curious that the fire that caused the explosion very clearly had fireworks going off in it prior to the AN warehouse igniting fully. If the fire started in the facility holding the AN, it would have just exploded, no fireworks (though that warehouse would have gone up with it).
 

Muse

Lifer
Jul 11, 2001
37,404
8,038
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So, I was wondering. They say it was a stash of something like 2000 tons of ammonium nitrate. I think a typical atomic bomb is equivalent to something like 10,000 tons of dynamite. What's the equivalence of the explosiveness of ammonium nitrate compared to dynamite. IOW, how many tons of dynamite would have caused a similar explosion?
 
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Paratus

Lifer
Jun 4, 2004
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Ammonium nitrate is fairly hard to ignite all by its lonesome. Welding sparks could do it but it's not often that welding sparks end up on the other side of the weld (welding from the outside, most sparks end up outside). Far more likely imho that something ignited the fireworks next door, and the ample explosions that resulted ended up igniting it. I wonder if they were instructed to weld a large number of doors shut around the dock area? Sealing entrances or whatever? Just curious that the fire that caused the explosion very clearly had fireworks going off in it prior to the AN warehouse igniting fully. If the fire started in the facility holding the AN, it would have just exploded, no fireworks (though that warehouse would have gone up with it).

That’s definitely possible. It’s also possible the maintenance had nothing to do with it. it’ll be interesting to find out what caused the initial fire.
 
Jan 25, 2011
16,586
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So, I was wondering. They say it was a stash of something like 2000 tons of ammonium nitrate. I think a typical atomic bomb is equivalent to something like 10,000 tons of dynamite. What's the equivalence of the explosiveness of ammonium nitrate compared to dynamite. IOW, how many tons of dynamite would have caused a similar explosion?
Little boy, the Hiroshima bomb, was 15 kilotons. The Beirut blast would be closer to just over 1 kiloton. 1,000 metric tons.
 

pmv

Lifer
May 30, 2008
12,974
7,891
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I have been wondering how that much A-N was stored in an unprotected warehouse with no safeguards inside a port city for 6 years and nobody gave a big damn.

That would be dangerous stored in a proper bunker with deflecting berms etc.


Beginnings of an explanation here:


Seems some officials kept pointing it out but they were ignored by the higher-ups in the system for some reason.

The figures for the numbers left homeless by this are just staggering.
 

pcgeek11

Lifer
Jun 12, 2005
21,279
4,406
136
Trumpie jumped to a conclusion and tweeted that it was a terrible terrorist act. He's such a fuckin' crackpot!


I would think that a lot of people would jump to that conclusion or at least that suspicion if they saw the explosion without any background information.

Who would suspect they would be stupid enough to store that much AN in a port warehouse for over 6 years. And next door to a warehouse full of fireworks.
 
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Jhhnn

IN MEMORIAM
Nov 11, 1999
62,365
14,681
136
Trumpie jumped to a conclusion and tweeted that it was a terrible terrorist act. He's such a fuckin' crackpot!

I would think that a lot of people would jump to that conclusion or at least that suspicion if they saw the explosion without any background information.

Who would suspect they would be stupid enough to store that much AN in a port warehouse for over 6 years. And next door to a warehouse full of fireworks.

Please. Trump lies. His generals didn't tell him anything. He just planted the seed of a conspiracy theory. Maybe he can make it into a distraction from his incompetence.
 

pcgeek11

Lifer
Jun 12, 2005
21,279
4,406
136
Please. Trump lies. His generals didn't tell him anything. He just planted the seed of a conspiracy theory. Maybe he can make it into a distraction from his incompetence.


Please learn to to read. I didn't defend what Trump said or his reasons for saying it.

When I saw the explosion on the news with the sound off, my first thought was a terrorist attack. I didn't know where or what just the video of the explosion and that is what I thought. I'm sure that I'm not alone.
 

Paratus

Lifer
Jun 4, 2004
16,614
13,297
146
Please learn to to read. I didn't defend what Trump said or his reasons for saying it.

When I saw the explosion on the news with the sound off, my first thought was a terrorist attack. I didn't know where or what just the video of the explosion and that is what I thought. I'm sure that I'm not alone.

If you had ever worked in the petrochemical business you would have jumped to industrial accident.

Fire and smoke leading to big boom is generally an accident. Big boom only is likely a terrorist attack.

(Not definitive of course, just likely)