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Huge blast in Beirut


L.A.T.1961

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More video of the blast. It has taken out the windows in a 5km area according to initial reports.

 

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The Lebanese government is saying a building that has been used to store confiscated high explosives for years blew up, Hezbollah is agreeing with the government's statement so far.

Edited by DarkHunter
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Tons of nitrates were involved in the explosion according to the Lebanese government, seems some people are questioning why they though storing all of this in the heart of a major city was a good idea.

Also apparently the Secretary General of Ketaib Hezbollah has died in the explosion.

Lastly to give an idea of the size of the explosion the shockwave from the explosion was felt in Cyprus about 250 km away with reports of a loud explosion and windows rattling.

Edited by DarkHunter
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1 hour ago, L.A.T.1961 said:

This video shows small explosions before the main blast.

 

On the video shot from the bay, you can also see small explosions after the main one.

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1 hour ago, DarkHunter said:

The Lebanese government is saying a building that has been used to store confiscated high explosives for years blew up, Hezbollah is agreeing with the government's statement so far.

This sounds far more plausible than the initial suggestion of a fireworks factory.

That was a HUGE explosion!

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Strange smells now being reported in Beruit near where the explosion occured, authorities are ordering people to vacate the area over fear of toxic gasses released by the explosion.

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At least 27 people are confirmed dead and about 2,500 have been wounded in the blasts, Lebanon's health minister has said.

The head of the Lebanese Red Cross told local media that hundreds of people have been injured in the explosion.

Georges Kettaneh said he could not put a more exact figure on the number of people wounded because many were still trapped in the area of the blast.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/world-middle-east-53656328

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Seems to be what caused the explosion was 50 tons of ammonia nitrate detonating.  Still dont get who would approve storing so much of a high explosive compound in a major city.

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Apparently one of three large hospitals in Beruit got taken out by the explosion, which makes matters significantly worse for the first responders.

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Dramatic video from the Lebanon Times showing that the initial fire and explosion does in fact seem to be the result of pyrotechnics, or maybe munitions, and this then set of the nitrates.

Pyrotechnics ?

No idea as to the fate of whoever was filming. Maybe this is recorded from a livestream as it's difficult to believe that they survived

Edited by Wepwawet
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4 hours ago, L.A.T.1961 said:
Looks like a fireworks factory went up ?

There were multiple secondary explosions going off until the big finale.  Israel will be blamed because they had very recently warned Hizballah but it could as easily have been munitions being mishandled during unloading at the port.

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2 hours ago, Wepwawet said:

Ammonium Nitrate. Same type of explosion happened in Texas in 1947, 581 dead and a total of 8,485 victims. Texas City disaster

IIRC, a cigarette set that one off.  One truck full of the stuff damned near took down a new Federal building in Oklahoma City.

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Dutch news is reporting at least 70 people dead and 3000 wounded but more deaths are unfortunately expected. 
Source of the explosion is to believe 2700 tons of Ammonium nitrate. Unreal and acidic rains are now expected and very dangerous. 

 

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12 minutes ago, and then said:

IIRC, a cigarette set that one off.  One truck full of the stuff damned near took down a new Federal building in Oklahoma City.

There was another one in Germany in 1920/21 with about the same casualties as in Texas. This one was set off by dynamite. Seems that in large storage silos ammonium nitrate starts to solidify and needs to be "loosened up". If the conditions were right it was deemed safe to use dynamite to do this, yeah, right.

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Just saw a guy from Beirut on the news saying that the grain silos that were destroyed contained Lebanon's strategic grain reserve, 3 months worth. And as it just gets worse and worse, the countries main flour mills were in the port area and are presumed destroyed. Also two hospitals had to be evacuated.

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1 hour ago, thedutchiedutch said:

Dutch news is reporting at least 70 people dead and 3000 wounded but more deaths are unfortunately expected. 
Source of the explosion is to believe 2700 tons of Ammonium nitrate. Unreal and acidic rains are now expected and very dangerous. 

 

Considering the history that has proven the volatility of these substances, you'd think the leaders there would have known better than to store that much in a single location without adequate security.  Netanyahu had just warned Hizballah: “We hit a cell and now we hit the dispatchers. We will do what is necessary in order to defend ourselves. I suggest to all of them, including Hezbollah, to consider this,” he said.

This statement was from just hours ago.  I can't imagine the Hizballah not trying to blame Israel, unless they'd have to act on the accusation and know they can't.

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2 hours ago, Wepwawet said:

Dramatic video from the Lebanon Times showing that the initial fire and explosion does in fact seem to be the result of pyrotechnics, or maybe munitions, and this then set of the nitrates.

Pyrotechnics ?

No idea as to the fate of whoever was filming. Maybe this is recorded from a livestream as it's difficult to believe that they survived

I agree, live streaming seems the most plausible since the screen goes to flames and smoke.  The poor, poor filter.  This whole thing is horrific 

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6 minutes ago, and then said:

Considering the history that has proven the volatility of these substances, you'd think the leaders there would have known better than to store that much in a single location without adequate security.  Netanyahu had just warned Hizballah: “We hit a cell and now we hit the dispatchers. We will do what is necessary in order to defend ourselves. I suggest to all of them, including Hezbollah, to consider this,” he said.

This statement was from just hours ago.  I can't imagine the Hizballah not trying to blame Israel, unless they'd have to act on the accusation and know they can't.

Yes, you wonder why. Also why not store this in a highly secluded location. 

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