Lebanon - Huge explosion in Beirut - August 4, 2020 - Approx. 150 are dead, 5,000 injured, tens of thousands homeless

[sharon sanders]

Live video of aftermath....

[sharon sanders]

Before and after huge explosion....

[sharon sanders]

Huge explosion rocks Lebanon's capital Beirut: Live updates


Hundreds wounded in huge explosion that ripped through Lebanese capital, according to the country's health minister.


https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/...163620414.html

[sharon sanders]

I don't know anything about Lebanon politics but apparently an important politician was killed.


The secretary-general of Lebanon's Kataeb Party died Tuesday after succumbing to wounds suffered during the explosions that rocked Downtown Beirut, local media reported.

https://english.alarabiya.net/en/New...xplosions.html

[sharon sanders]

الجزيرة - عاجل

@AJABreaking
عاجل | مدير عام الأمن العام اللبناني: ما حصل ليس انفجار مفرقعات بل مواد شديدة الانفجار كانت مصادرة منذ سنوات
Translated from Arabic by
Urgent Director-General of the Lebanese Public Security: What happened is not a bomb explosion, but a high-explosive material that was confiscated years ago
12:51 PM ? Aug 4, 2020?AJAEditorialApp

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Riam Dalati

@Dalatrm
An audio message from the wife of an official (private WhatsApp group) claims the blast was due to 'utter negligence'. Ammonium Nitrate was 'salvaged from a sinking ship' about 12 years ago and stored at 'Hangar 12, one of #Beirut harbour's biggest'.
1:39 PM ? Aug 4, 2020?Twitter for Android
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Riam Dalati

@Dalatrm
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2h
Replying to
@Dalatrm
A 'health and safety' check done 6 months ago revealed 'the extremely dangerous and volatile circumstances' the NaNo3 was stored in. 'This is extremely volatile material which is liable to ignite at any time, especially in circumstances of excessive heat or humidity'
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Riam Dalati

@Dalatrm
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2h
She quotes her husband as having told her what the health and safety report said at the time. Unfortunately, our entire harbour is on fire, so I don't think an independent verification can authenticate the ongoing NaNo3 salvage narrative.
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[sharon sanders]

The Lebanese health ministry says at least 73 people have been killed while 3,700 are wounded in a massive explosion at the port in the capital, Beirut.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/...163620414.html

[sharon sanders]

BBC Breaking News

@BBCBreaking
Lebanese president blames 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate left in warehouse unchecked for six years for devastating Beirut blast Latest: http://bbc.in/3kj9EfJ

[Emily]

Here's a video from DW. The suffering caused by this is horrifying.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wqKn_3iJOP4

[alert]

NaNO3 is sodium nitrate. Ammonium Nitrate would be NH4NO3. Ammonium nitrate would have more explosive potential than sodium nitrate because of the second nitrogen atom; much of the energy released comes from the formation of the highly stable N2 molecules in the reaction. Wondering which chemical the tweets intend to refer to; translation and formatting may be an issue.

Ammonium nitrate is what Timothy McVeigh used in his bomb in Oklahoma City in 1995.

[sharon sanders]

Millers fear for Lebanon’s food security after Beirut explosion



Jacob Boswall, Al Arabiya EnglishWednesday 05 August 2020

Tuesday’s explosion in the port of Beirut may have long-lasting impacts on Lebanon’s precarious food security, wheat importers fear.

The blast, which killed dozens and injured hundreds on Tuesday, appeared to have significantly damaged Lebanon’s national wheat silos, situated in the port.

snip

But more concerning than the damaged goods is Lebanon’s ability to continue importing essentials such as wheat. Only 16.9 percent of Lebanon’s wheat supply is grown locally, making Beirut’s largest port an important lifeline for the country.

more..

https://english.alarabiya.net/en/fea...explosion.html

[sharon sanders]

Lebanese MP Marwan Hamadeh resigned from parliament during a live interview on Al Arabiya, saying that he no longer felt honored to be part of an “ineffective government” following the deadly explosions that erupted in the port of Beirut.

https://english.alarabiya.net/en/New...ffective-.html

[sharon sanders]

George Kettaneh, the head of the Lebanese Red Cross, has said at least 100 people were killed and more than 4,000 wounded in the massive explosion in Beirut on Tuesday.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/...234925493.html

[sharon sanders]

AFP Beirut
@AFP_Beirut

4h
Beirut governor Marwan Abboud to
@AFP
Up to 300,000 left homeless by Beirut blast: governor - Cost of damage from blast tops $3 bn: governor - Damage extends over half of city: governor

[sharon sanders]

AFP Beirut
@AFP_Beirut

Latest death toll from #BeirutBlast is 113
4,000 injured and dozens missing (health minister)

France opens inquiry after some citizens are wounded

[etudiant]

Just a disgusting case of dereliction of duty by all involved, the ship owner as well as the port authorities.

http://www.maritimebulletin.net/2020/08/04/beirut-port-explosion-in-close-proximity-witness-video/

There have been a number of ammonium nitrate disasters, this is just the latest, So the risk was well known, but no one was willing to act.