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Yesterday a massive explosion ripped through Beirut, Lebanon from the city’s port: Sometimes you do calculations and get a result that you know must be wrong, and you report them anyway so others can spot your errors. Reports had the explosion shattering windows 10 kilometers away, and doing damage to the Beirut airport, so I set out to calculate the explosive yield using the Nukemap, based on shattering windows at the airport (the 1 psi overpressure ring) and ignoring radiation effects. (The nukemap interface is far more user friendly than the “Nuclear bomb Effects Computer” at the back of Samuel...

Aug. 5 (UPI) -- Authorities in Beirut have increased the death count from the devastating explosions on Tuesday to at least 135, while one official said Wednesday it could cost Lebanon's capital as much as $5 billion to recover. Lebanese President Michel Aoun called for an emergency Cabinet meeting and asked for a two-week state of emergency. Beirut Gov. Marwan Abboud said about 300,000 were homeless after the blasts and estimated repair costs in the billions. Lebanese Red Cross workers searched abandoned neighborhoods on Wednesday, reporting more than 5,000 injured. Abboud told local media that damages could range from $3...

A series of videos captured the devastation in Beirut as an explosion tore through the Lebanese capital - killing at least 100 people dead and injuring more than 4,000. Footage from across the blast site filmed the apocalyptic scenes yesterday which saw ceilings collapse, families shelter for cover, offices ripped apart and buildings engulfed in flames. It is thought the explosion was triggered by more than 2,750 tons of highly explosive ammonium nitrate - the main ingredient in fertilizer bombs.

What you need to know: At least 100 people were killed and 4,000 wounded in a massive explosion that shook Beirut on Tuesday, state-run media reported, citing the Red Cross. Hundreds have been reported missing in the aftermath of the blast raising fears that the death toll will rise, Lebanon's Health Minister said Wednesday. It's still unclear what exactly caused the explosion. Lebanon's Prime Minister said an investigation would focus on an estimated 2,750 metric tons of the explosive ammonium nitrate, stored at a warehouse. Beirut's governor said the blast caused up to $5 billion worth of damage. ============================================================================ Lebanese...

[This piece is heavy on video.] And so the false narrative forms around the Beirut explosion. – The official government narrative out of Lebanon about the horrific series of hundreds of smaller explosions followed by at least one, and possibly two massive blasts at the shipping port of Beirut on Tuesday. As I noted yesterday, the Al Arabiya news service reported that the explosions took place at a warehouse that was a known weapons depot for the Hezbollah terrorist group that dominates Lebanon’s government. President Trump stated at his press conference late Tuesday evening that his generals had told him...

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...

So this was not a fireworks/ammonium issue so much as a terrorist weapons issue.

A huge rescue operation and an international aid effort got underway Wednesday, less than 24 hours after much of Beirut was buried by rubble and choked by smoke in a colossal explosion Tuesday afternoon. Lebanese health minister Hamad Hasan said 135 people have been killed and 5,000 injured in the explosion. Dozens of people are still missing. Those figures look set to rise with hospitals overwhelmed and victims still trapped underneath debris. "There is no word to describe the horror of the catastrophe that occurred in Beirut yesterday," Lebanese President Michel Aoun said during an emergency cabinet meeting on Wednesday,...

Ammonium nitrate is frequently added to increase a fertilizer's nitrogen content. It's relatively stable under most conditions and is inexpensive to manufacture, making the chemical a popular alternative to other, more expensive nitrogen sources. But ammonium nitrate has a potentially lethal downside: The compound is considered an oxidizer, meaning at an atomic level, it removes electrons from other substances in a chemical reaction. What that means in a more practical sense is that it increases the burning of fuels by increasing the oxygen that's available to those fuels. To start the reaction, ammonium nitrate must come into contact with an...

The ship owned by a Russian born Cyprus citizen Mr Grechushkin Igor with was travelling under a Moldovan flag. The crew was Ukrainian with Russian Master which authorities thought was doubtful. After a proper inspection, it was found to be carrying 2750 tons of ammonium nitrate considered highly dangerous cargo. The vessel was impounded with the crew staying on the vessel until the proceedings were completed. The Russian and Ukrainian authorities washed their hands off the incident. The crew and ship remained stranded at the Beirut Port. In May 2014, the dangers of having a floating bomb parked at the...

PM, defense and foreign ministers reach out to hostile neighbor through UN and international mediators after massive blast at port; president, opposition leader send condolencesIsrael on Tuesday night offered humanitarian aid to Lebanon, after explosions at a Beirut port killed dozens and injured thousands, in a rare show of support for the enemy country.“Israel approached Lebanon through international defense and diplomatic channels to offer the Lebanese government medical humanitarian aid,” Defense Minister Benny Gantz and Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi said in a joint statement.Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he instructed his National Security Adviser, Meir Ben Shabbat, to discuss with...

“Beirut blast: Massive explosion shakes Lebanon’s capital; at least 50 dead, thousands injured,” by Danielle Wallace and Bradford Betz, Fox News, August 4, 2020: A massive explosion shook Beirut on Tuesday, killing at least 50 people and injuring thousands of others while flattening much of the port, damaging buildings across the capital, and sending a giant mushroom cloud into the sky. The cause of the explosion remains unclear. The Lebanese Red Cross tweeted that more than 30 teams were responding to the scene of the blast via ambulances. The health minister said at least 50 people were killed and over...

At least 70 people have now been confirmed to have been killed, with over 3,700 injured as the casualty toll continues to mount from the massive explosions that rocked Lebanon’s capital of Beirut on Tuesday. The explosions took place at the city’s shipping port, and the cause is still under investigation. Many residents with views of the port began using their cell phone to take video of a massive smoke plume that was being caused by hundreds of smaller explosions coming from a warehouse along the docks. Videographers miles away were then rocked when a massive explosion devastated the area...

Watch video below.....

Massive explosion, mushroom cloud. Footage at the link.

Not sure about links from AP. clink on link to see.

A huge explosion has occurred in Beirut - click for video

2,750 Tonnes Of Ammonium Nitrate Exploded: Lebanon PM On Beirut Blasts"It is unacceptable that a shipment of 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate has been present for six years in a warehouse, without taking preventive measures," he said at a defence council meeting, a spokesman told a press conference.

Last month, when Trump dispatched the USS Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group to the Persian Gulf region, it was reportedly the Israeli Mossad that tipped off the U.S. “on an Iranian plan to attack either a US or a US-allied target.”If so, the warning has already been borne out as just a week later Iran—trying to bully and threaten its way out of the Trump administration’s economic chokehold—attacked Norwegian, Emirati, and Saudi oil tankers, and last week attacked a Japanese and a Norwegian oil tanker.It’s not the first time Israeli intelligence has warned of impending attacks by Iran or...

Terrorists linked to Iranian-backed Hezbollah were stockpiling bomb-making ingredients, including three tons of ammonium nitrate, in London in 2015 in what was described as a “secret British bomb factory,” the Daily Telegraph reported this week. The 2015 case was kept “hidden from the public” until now. The discovery of the explosives cache in 2015, and the subsequent decision to keep that information from the public, occurred during a period of intense public debate over the nuclear deal between the Obama administration and Iran. The Iran Nuclear Deal On July 14, 2015, the United States, Russia, China, the UK, France, and...