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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, Insightful) by Runaway1956 on Wednesday August 05 2020, @02:59PM (5 children)
Yes, we really do things that stupid. The only thing that keeps it from happening often, are busybodies and inspections. Complacency creeps in, no matter what part of the world you live in.
What strikes me about this is, within just a few short hours, everyone knew what caused it. Obviously, there was full documentation, and people in authority knew about it. They probably talked about it in their offices. "What are we going to DO with all that explosive? It would be nice to recover that warehouse space, if nothing else."
What I find hard to believe, is that anyone who knew what was stored inside, would allow for welding to take place within the same building. The repairmen may or may not have been informed, but SOMEONE in at least a low position of authority should have been weirded out at the thought.
I'm trying to picture a Navy ship, and the captain approving of welding operations in, or even near, the powder magazines. Ugghh!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 05 2020, @03:36PM (3 children)
"Complacency" could be one reason. Gutting regulations could be another. FREEEEDOM! to dump chemicals.
(Score: 1, Redundant) by Runaway1956 on Wednesday August 05 2020, @03:44PM (2 children)
We'll never get the freeeedom necessary to dump your toxic ass though.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 05 2020, @08:36PM (1 child)
Awww, poor runaway upset that someone is calling out his hypocritical conservative viewpoints? Aww awwww, so sad.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 05 2020, @09:19PM
Poor Runaway is poor at detecting criticism or sarcasm. So sad. But America has all the best Ammonium Nitrate accidental detonations! We are Number One in Corona Virus! And we have the greatest stupidity in the world, some say the greatest stupidity ever! Trooly, we are Making America Grate Against!
(Score: 2) by Joe Desertrat on Friday August 07 2020, @10:14PM
More likely just luck. The same sort of luck that keeps a wreck of a car running long after it should have been junked (I speak from experience here). Kind of like waiting for a molecule that is already past its half life to decay.