General / Off-Topic Beyrouth in Lebanon massive explosion!

Remus

Remus
I mean....
Damn! :oops:
If I didn't knew better, I would think a Nuke just go off!
My thoughts to the victims of the blast, and to the Lebanese in this time of hardship.

Edit: At least 50 confirmed dead, and thousands wounded.

The origin of the blast seems to be a firecracker factory that caught fire!

Edit 2: It seems that the 2nd HUGE blast was the result of 50T of ammonium nitrate stored for 6 years that caught fire after the 1st explosion caused by fireworks.
 
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Chris Simon

Chris Simon
Havvk said:
Why is always a "fireworks factory"?
Click to expand...
It's not "fireworks factory", it's just fireworks factory. More exactly a warehouse. (well... was, I suppose)
And why is it always a fireworks factory? They are working with the same stuff as ammunition factories but with a fraction of the security measures. 🤷‍♂️

Real tragedy there.. :(
 

Stigbob

Stigbob
Its not fireworks or fuel it's commercial or military grade explosives.

If you watch the clip you can really clearly see the shockwave (1.30 in the second clip). That's the white ball that expands out then vanishes before the flame/debris even really gets moving. That only happens with high explosives (high means high speed which is the speed of sound).

Fireworks/fuel/industrial accidents and such are all sub-sonic military explosive can go up to six times the speed of sound, that's twice as fast as a modern rifle bullet.

The thing with military and commercial high explosives is they are supposed to only detonate with an initiator charge as a safety feature and there are very strict rules on storing them. A fire isn't supposed to do it, big fires are outside the scope of the testing though.
 

ethelred

ethelred
Remus said:
Edit 2: It seems that the 2nd HUGE blast was the result of 50T of ammonium nitrate stored for 6 years that caught fire after the 1st explosion caused by fireworks.
Click to expand...

More like 2,000 + tonnes of AN that had been taken from an in trouble Moldovan flagged ship 6 years ago (ironically because they didn't want that amount of explosive sat in the harbour) which was then promptly forgotten about.

BBC News - Beirut blast: Lebanon in mourning after massive explosion
www.bbc.co.uk

Beirut explosion: Frantic search for survivors of deadly blast

More than 100 people are dead and dozens others are missing after the explosion in the port area.
www.bbc.co.uk www.bbc.co.uk

And that children, is why we have a Health and Safety executive.
 

Patrick_68000

Patrick_68000
Remus said:
Edit 2: It seems that the 2nd HUGE blast was the result of 50T of ammonium nitrate stored for 6 years that caught fire after the 1st explosion caused by fireworks.
Click to expand...
This morning they say: "2750 tons of ammonium nitrate are at the origin of the explosions", according to the Lebanese government.

🦠 🦠 🦠 🦠 🦠 🦠 😷
 

Patrick_68000

Patrick_68000
The explosion of 300 to 400 tonnes of ammonium nitrates at the AZF plant in Toulouse in France on September 21, 2001 killed 31 people and injured nearly 5000 people.

So I can imagine 2750 tonnes ... :rolleyes:

🦠🦠🦠🦠🦠🦠😷
 

Zieman

Zieman
Patrick_68000 said:
So I can imagine 2750 tonnes ...
Click to expand...
Think about it.
That is literally 2.75 kilotons, making the yield* nuke -range, without the radioactive fallout of course.

*then there's the actual force of the explosion - IIRC nuclear blasts are rated as TNT tons equivalent, don't offhand know how ammonium nitrate compares to that.

EDIT: from Wikipedia, the factor of ammonium nitrate compared to TNT is 0.42, so Beirut explosion yield was 1.155 kt
 
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Remus

Remus
ethelred said:
More like 2,000 + tonnes of AN that had been taken from an in trouble Moldovan flagged ship 6 years ago (ironically because they didn't want that amount of explosive sat in the harbour) which was then promptly forgotten about.

BBC News - Beirut blast: Lebanon in mourning after massive explosion
www.bbc.co.uk

Beirut explosion: Frantic search for survivors of deadly blast

More than 100 people are dead and dozens others are missing after the explosion in the port area.
www.bbc.co.uk www.bbc.co.uk

And that children, is why we have a Health and Safety executive.
Click to expand...

That makes more sense, first time I read 50T I was like "only 50T?"

You can literally see the buildings go "pouf!", like smoke!
 

Patrick_68000

Patrick_68000
Zieman said:
Think about it.
That is literally 2.75 kilotons, making the yield* nuke -range, without the radioactive fallout of course.

*then there's the actual force of the explosion - IIRC nuclear blasts are rated as TNT tons equivalent, don't offhand know how ammonium nitrate compares to that.

EDIT: from Wikipedia, the factor of ammonium nitrate compared to TNT is 0.42, so Beirut explosion yield was 1.155 kt
Click to expand...
it's not surprising that the mushroom appeared during the explosion.

🦠 🦠 🦠 🦠 🦠 😷
 
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Remus

Remus
Sobering image showing the extent of the damage on the near vicinity of the blast.
8935b2477868c8bfcb2f4a9fda7043aa


Over 100 death, and counting!
Tens of thousands without a home, billions in damages!
 
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VR StarLightPL

VR StarLightPL
Any sufficiently powerful explosion will create a mushroom cloud. The videos of that one are scary as hell. If there's a lesson to learn here for all these bystanders filming, if you see something like this go off, don't just stand like a moron and film, duck for cover, you have only a few seconds to do so.

Also there was a similar if not bigger explosion in 2015 in China, compare to the skyscrappers:
www.theguardian.com

Tianjin blasts: eyewitnesses capture explosions on film, then flee – video

A video filmed by stunned eyewitness, Dan Van Duren, captures the moment huge explosions tore through an industrial area in Chinese port city Tianjin
www.theguardian.com www.theguardian.com
 
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