Explosion in Beirut

[nkypete]

Massive explosion today in Beirut today originating in the port area.  Huge numbers of dead and injured.  Videos of the major part of the explosion unbelievable.  Some are saying it was an accident, but that is hard to believe.

https://www.foxnews.com/world/explosion-lebanon-capital-beirut

[TheDeuce]

 

[TheDeuce]

 

[theguru]

That explosion what something else, how horrible.

And I am going to go ahead and drop this in here in hopes we can leave this thread open:

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[theguru]

I just saw a report that said 50 dead at this time and at least 3000 injured. 

[Colonels_Wear_Blue]

The reports I've seen said that the explosion took place in a port area, and the area contained a warehouse reported to housed large amounts of ammonium nitrate - a highly explosive additive frequently used in fertilizers.

 

 

[Jumper_Dad]

Early reports on BBC said that fireworks are stored in that area. If you watch closely in the first video above, it looks like fireworks going off near the base of the smoke.

[Jumper_Dad]

I'm sure to those in the know, that the red color of the cloud after the explosion may give a tip to what was involved.

[Jumper_Dad]

One rumor picking up speed is that this may have been a covert weapons depot.

[TheDeuce]

5 minutes ago, Jumper_Dad said:

Early reports on BBC said that fireworks are stored in that area. If you watch closely in the first video above, it looks like fireworks going off near the base of the smoke.

I'm not buying fireworks for a second. 

[theguru]

7 minutes ago, TheDeuce said:

I'm not buying fireworks for a second. 

I have no clue but it was a very uniform explosion for fireworks.

[Colonels_Wear_Blue]

24 minutes ago, Jumper_Dad said:

I'm sure to those in the know, that the red color of the cloud after the explosion may give a tip to what was involved.

Google just taught me that orange-red clouds of smoke are associated with nitrogen dioxide gas....which occurs when nitrates (e.g. - ammonium nitrate) explode or burn.

[GrantNKY]

Very clear that there were fireworks there, but the fireworks going off would simply be a product of the ignition inside. Whatever the giant explosion was from was certainly not fireworks. If there are any chemists on here I’m sure they could shed some light on what is was that made the smoke red after the explosion. That should give a ton of insight of what exactly went off, 

[GrantNKY]

3 minutes ago, Colonels_Wear_Blue said:

Google just taught me that orange-red clouds of smoke are associated with nitrogen dioxide gas....which occurs when nitrates (e.g. - ammonium nitrate) explode or burn.

Good work CWB! Any idea what those nitrates are used to produce? I’m assuming not fireworks. 

[DragonFire]

I’ve read they estimate 2700 tons of ammonium nitrate. 
 

For scale, the Oklahoma City bombing utilized 2 tons. The scope of this explosion is really hard to take in.