EffectivelyThat red cloud has got to be a major clue. Looks like nitrogen tet or red fuming nitric acid to me.
The director of the general security directorate later said the blast was caused by confiscated "high explosive materials," but did not provide further details
Ammonium Nitrate ? ... https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/ANFO
Reports in the Guardian say 2,700t of Ammonium Nitrate. And they've picked up a tweet from an economist saying that 90% of the country's grain supply flows through the now-wrecked silo visible in some of the shots just to the side of the explosion.
Reports in the Guardian say 2,700t of Ammonium Nitrate. And they've picked up a tweet from an economist saying that 90% of the country's grain supply flows through the now-wrecked silo visible in some of the shots just to the side of the explosion.
I wonder if the red cloud is *grain* of some kind.
In which case, the story can be spun as "mostly peaceful chemical reaction redistributes grain free to local residents."
I wonder if the red cloud is *grain* of some kind.
In which case, the story can be spun as "mostly peaceful chemical reaction redistributes grain free to local residents."
Seriously? After an explosion killing probably hundreds of people? Too soon for jokes like this (if they are ever really appropriate).
Besides which, it seems confirmed that it was AN, which matches the red smoke.
Weren't no joke, son
Weren't no joke, son
Wasn't reality. No one is going to claim this was anything but a disaster.
They were incredibly lucky to have that grain silo exactly at this spot.
Can explode too indeed. I read the news that it was a double explosion there in Beirut.They were incredibly lucky to have that grain silo exactly at this spot.
Rare indeed is the expression of relief that there was a grain silo in proximity to an explosion.
Can explode too indeed. I read the news that it was a double explosion there in Beirut.They were incredibly lucky to have that grain silo exactly at this spot.
Rare indeed is the expression of relief that there was a grain silo in proximity to an explosion.
That's the grain silo. The grain filled "tubes" facing the explosion must have absorbed enough of the blast for the rest of the thing to stand still.OMFG - I wondered what had happened to the big building near the explosion epicenter. Whether it was launched to the Moon or Jupiter. It is pretty amazing, half of it is still standing.
OMFG - I wondered what had happened to the big building near the explosion epicenter. Whether it was launched to the Moon or Jupiter. It is pretty amazing, half of it is still standing.
That grain elevator seems to have saved a lot of people.
Definitely not, because it's not funny.I wonder if the red cloud is *grain* of some kind.
In which case, the story can be spun as "mostly peaceful chemical reaction redistributes grain free to local residents."
Seriously? After an explosion killing probably hundreds of people? Too soon for jokes like this (if they are ever really appropriate).
Weren't no joke, son.
I can recommend to read A Brief History of the Car Bomb (by Mike Davis), to everyone interested in the topic.Ammonium Nitrate ? ... https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/ANFO
Rarer still is a comment about it.They were incredibly lucky to have that grain silo exactly at this spot.
Rare indeed is the expression of relief that there was a grain silo in proximity to an explosion.
Rare indeed is the expression of relief that there was a grain silo in proximity to an explosion.
The ammonium nitrate was confiscated from a Russian-owned, Moldovan-flagged cargo ship—the Rhosus—in September 2013 when the tanker docked in Beirut after experiencing technical difficulties. The Rhosus had been on its way from Georgia to Mozambique, according to the ship-tracking website Fleetmon.
Lawyers at the Beirut-based Baroudi Legal firm represented the boat's Russian and Ukrainian crewmembers, who were stranded on the ship after it docked. Lebanese officials prevented the vessel from sailing elsewhere and it was eventually abandoned by its crew and its owners. The explosive cargo was then moved to Hanger 12, which sat close to the country's main north-south highway.
The years following saw multiple efforts to address the dangerous cargo. In 2014, then-director of Lebanese Customs Shafik Merhi wrote to an unnamed "Urgent Matters judge" seeking a solution. Customs officials sent at least five more letters over the next three years, Al Jazeera reported, asking for the ammonium nitrate to be addressed.
Proposed solutions included exporting the material, handing it to the Lebanese army or selling it to a Lebanese explosives company. A 2016 letter noted that officials had received no reply from judges.
"In view of the serious danger of keeping these goods in the hangar in unsuitable climatic conditions, we reaffirm our request to please request the marine agency to re-export these goods immediately to preserve the safety of the port and those working in it, or to look into agreeing to sell this amount," the letter read. It too received no reply.
In 2017, Lebanese Customs Administration director Badri Daher started his tenure by writing to a judge again about the ammonium nitrate. He stressed the "the danger ... of leaving these goods in the place they are, and to those working there."