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Ammonium nitrate: what is the chemical blamed for blast in Lebanese capital?
The likely cause of the huge blast in Beirut on Tuesday appears to have been the highly reactive chemical ammonium nitrate.
Lebanon's prime minister, Hassan Diab, said 2,700 tonnes of ammonium nitrate exploded after lying unsecured in a warehouse for six years, tallying with reports that a ship carrying a similar quantity of the chemical had unloaded its cargo at the port in 2013. It remains unclear what caused the chemical to ignite.
AFP is quoting the governor of Beirut, Marwan Abboud, as saying the damage from the port blast has extended over half of the city, with the cost of damage likely above $3bn.
He has also upped his previous estimate of the number of "homeless" to 300,000, which is close to the total population of the central part of the capital. Again, we are not sure if he is talking about homelessness or people whose homes have been damaged.
As Death Toll Rises After Deadly Blast, a Search for Answers and Survivors: Live Updates
As Death Toll Rises After Deadly Blast, a Search for Answers and Survivors: Live Updates:
- Search is on for survivors after blast kills more than 100.
- Some 300,000 people have been displaced from their homes. But amid the devastation, stories of heroism.
- The science behind the blast: Why fertilizer packs a punch.
- Even as hospitals were destroyed and staffers killed, doctors and nurses raced to help.
- I was bloodied and dazed. Beirut strangers treated me like a friend.
- In maps: A two-mile radius around the blast was flattened.
- Beirut's landmark downtown is in shambles. Again.
(Score: 3, Informative) by looorg on Wednesday August 05 2020, @12:37PM (4 children)
https://af.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idAFKCN25107J [reuters.com]
It should have propagated out to all the news sources by now. It may be the source and it could I guess also have been something else, but it sounds plausible.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by Runaway1956 on Wednesday August 05 2020, @12:59PM
The blast he refers to killed and injured people I knew.
And, it's a bit sobering to realize that there are people there who have lived through all of the violence we've written down into our recent history books. They can't pack up and go home like I did, or the Marines did in '83. They live there, and the shit just keeps happening to them.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 05 2020, @02:08PM
"Officials did not say..."
How about that big fire right next the building? Maybe that had something to do with it?
(Score: 2, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 05 2020, @03:53PM (1 child)
Authorities still looking for the welder have established a search pattern off the coast of Cyprus.
(Score: 2) by MostCynical on Wednesday August 05 2020, @08:27PM
think you mis-typed: "Authorities are looking for the pattern he made."
"I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex