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takyon [soylentnews.org] writes:

Beirut explosion: over half the city damaged in blast that killed at least 100 and wounded 4,000 – live updates [theguardian.com]

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 [theguardian.com] 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.

Ammonium nitrate: what is the chemical blamed for blast in Lebanese capital? [theguardian.com]

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 [theguardian.com] 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.

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