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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: 2) by deadstick on Wednesday August 05 2020, @01:22PM (4 children)
I had been under the impression that ammonium nitrate needed another reagent, such as fuel oil, to become explosive...but a chemist cousin tells me there are certain environmental factors that can make straight NH4NO3 go off.
Of course, there's chemical evidence strewn all over the Middle East now, so we should be seeing a lot of analysis by every actor that has a stake over there.
(Score: 2) by mhajicek on Wednesday August 05 2020, @01:40PM (1 child)
I had been under the same impression until yesterday. Look up the Texas fertilizer factory explosion.
The spacelike surfaces of time foliations can have a cusp at the surface of discontinuity. - P. Hajicek
(Score: 2) by Freeman on Wednesday August 05 2020, @03:53PM
The fire there was officially ruled as having been deliberately set. In part, because they couldn't find any other reason for it to have gone off. So, environmental factors, mishandling, or deliberate setting, it's unclear. It would seem that an explosion of that magnitude makes the gathering of evidence a difficult thing.
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 2) by EvilSS on Wednesday August 05 2020, @05:47PM (1 child)
(Score: 2) by EvilSS on Wednesday August 05 2020, @05:52PM