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What Just Blew Up In Beirut?
bellingcat.com ^ | 8-4-2020 | Nick Waters

Posted on 08/05/2020 4:52:03 AM PDT by servo1969

Shortly before 6 PM Beirut time reports began flooding Twitter of a fire and a series of explosions in Beirut. It rapidly became evident that event was far more than a small industrial fire.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qx8WQqUGk1M

-----snip------

Conclusion
From the available information it is clear that shortly before 6 PM in Beirut a fire and series of explosions at the docks in Beirut set off a gigantic explosion, the effects of which were felt as far away as Cyprus. Damage is widespread around the city and thousands are reported to have been wounded. The epicenter of the blast appears to have been the warehouse at 33.901353, 35.518835, and while the official explanation has yet to be confirmed, multiple sources on information point towards a shipment of 2,700 tons of ammonium nitrate that had been sitting in the port since 2013.

(Excerpt) Read more at bellingcat.com ...


TOPICS: Extended News
KEYWORDS: ammoniumnitrate; beirut; explosion; lebanon; notthisagain
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To: pas
I guess they no longer need to worry about what to do with it. They have that going for them.

Yep. If you put off a decision long enough eventually some one or some thing comes along and takes it out of your hands. Lesson learned, the hard way.

41 posted on 08/05/2020 5:58:16 AM PDT by ThunderSleeps
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To: mewzilla

No, AN. Commonly has that red cloud effect as incomplete deflagration of some of the mass.


42 posted on 08/05/2020 5:58:20 AM PDT by Manly Warrior (US ARMY (Ret), "No Free Lunches for the Dogs of War")
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To: zeestephen

https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/fertilizer-explosion-kills-581-in-texas

“By 9 a.m., flames had erupted from the hold and within minutes it exploded. The blast was heard 150 miles away and was so powerful that the ship’s 1.5- ton anchor was found two miles away. “

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas_City_disaster

“The 1947 Texas City disaster was an industrial accident that occurred on April 16, 1947, in the Port of Texas City, Texas, at Galveston Bay. It was the deadliest industrial accident in U.S. history, and one of history’s largest non-nuclear explosions.”


43 posted on 08/05/2020 5:58:55 AM PDT by BwanaNdege ( Experience is the best teacher, but if you can accept it 2nd hand, the tuition is less!)
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To: servo1969; All

Carlos thread 1
https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1290748019218853890.html

Carlos thread 2
https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1290776857357344768.html

Carlos thread 3
https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1290807851053506561.html


44 posted on 08/05/2020 6:01:43 AM PDT by silverleaf (Great Things Never Come from Comfort Zones)
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To: Manly Warrior

Well, well....... the facts come to light.

Thanks for that


45 posted on 08/05/2020 6:02:04 AM PDT by bert ( (KE. NP. N.C. +12) Progressives are existential American enemies)
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To: Manly Warrior
I worked on farms in my ute. We used AN extensively as fertilizer. In retrospect I probably should of been more careful with the stuff.

Later in life we experimented with it's properties. It is not all that easy to trigger and expolosopn. That is why it used in mining in hugh and series quantities.. My bet is that we will never know what triggered this event.

46 posted on 08/05/2020 6:02:24 AM PDT by mad_as_he$$
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To: bert

“It boils down to what detonator with adequate explosive energy was used to set off relatively stable ammonium nitrate?”

“Akbar & Sons - Making Quality IEDs for Hezbollah since 1985” shop located next door to the Ammonium Nitrate warehouse?


47 posted on 08/05/2020 6:07:07 AM PDT by BwanaNdege ( Experience is the best teacher, but if you can accept it 2nd hand, the tuition is less!)
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To: bert

That actually is a good bet. Middle eastern court cases routinely run a decade and many times 2.


48 posted on 08/05/2020 6:10:14 AM PDT by D Rider
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To: bert

I’ve been hearing about fireworks from the beginning. It sure appears to be fireworks going off during the fire just previous to the major blast.


49 posted on 08/05/2020 6:17:29 AM PDT by cornfedcowboy
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To: servo1969

Location for the curious:
  https://plus.codes 8G5QWG29+GH
   33.901313,35.518937

Historical info also at Wikipedia on the Port of Beirut.


50 posted on 08/05/2020 6:19:12 AM PDT by ptsal (Vote R.E.D. >>>Remove Every Democrat ***)
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To: servo1969

bkmk for later study.


51 posted on 08/05/2020 6:23:57 AM PDT by sauropod (I will not comply.)
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To: mewzilla
I think the fireworks story was used to explain the red cloud. That ammonium nitrate wouldn’t.

You are correct; ammonium nitrate deglagration produced ash-colored smoke. The reddish-brown smoke comes from High Melting Explosive, also called Octogen - which is rocket fuel. The four ingredients of HMX are hexamine, ammonium nitrate, nitric acid and acetic acid. All those rockets fired on Israel come from somewhere and are fueled by something. "Some things happened" to an Iranian ammunition warehouse and/or ammunition factory.

52 posted on 08/05/2020 6:24:51 AM PDT by Always A Marine ("When you strike at a king, you must kill him" - Ralph Waldo Emerson)
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To: servo1969

Not an expert, but doesn’t Ammonium Nitrate require diesel (or fuel oil) mixed in with it before it becomes an ANFO bomb?


53 posted on 08/05/2020 6:34:48 AM PDT by Yo-Yo ( is the /sarc tag really necessary?)
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To: bert

We used to use ammonium nitrate for blasting on the farm. It comes in 2 forms, coated and uncoated. The coating was developed to make the substance more stable, and we mixed diesel fuel with the ammonium nitrate to break down the coating. It didn’t actually improve the function of the ammonium nitrate. What I remember most is even with a bread bag of the fertilizer it took a full stick of dynamite to initiate the larger explosive. Something about this story doesn’t add up.


54 posted on 08/05/2020 6:35:55 AM PDT by cbvanb
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To: zeestephen

Your tinfoil is on too tight


55 posted on 08/05/2020 6:39:18 AM PDT by stuck_in_new_orleans
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To: Red Badger

56 posted on 08/05/2020 6:40:35 AM PDT by Yo-Yo ( is the /sarc tag really necessary?)
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To: servo1969

Seems like an impractical way to expand the harbor.


57 posted on 08/05/2020 6:42:23 AM PDT by Rebelbase
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To: johniegrad

In all fairness, see the “Texas City Disaster” for more info.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas_City_disaster

Bottom line, don’t store very large amounts of Ammonium Nitrate fertilizer in hot places during a heat wave.


58 posted on 08/05/2020 6:44:53 AM PDT by yefragetuwrabrumuy ("All men and women were created by the, you know, you know, the thing.” -- Joe Biden 3/3/20)
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To: zeestephen

Or if rocket fuel was stored in the same warehouse in shipping containers.

https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/162492

The detonation looked much more like >5000 m/s than 2000 m/s ammonium nitrate.

Ala Pepcon. The color of the cloud is a clue.


59 posted on 08/05/2020 6:59:35 AM PDT by logi_cal869 (-cynicus the "concern troll" a/o 10/03/2018 /!i!! &@$%&*(@ -)
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To: Manly Warrior

Good analysis.

But of course it cannot explain the cratering. Concrete burns at 1642C and vaporizes at 1932C far in excess of 210C. So it’s rather obvious this was produced with a tactical nuke perpetrated by the nefarious juice.

/S


60 posted on 08/05/2020 7:04:46 AM PDT by Justa (If where you came from is so great then why aren't Floridians moving there?)
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