Deadly explosion at Beirut port

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beirut-explosion-image
beirut-explosion-image

Beirut reels after deadly blast

A massive warehouse explosion in Lebanon’s capital sent a mushroom cloud into the sky and rattled windows on the Mediterranean island of Cyprus, about 100 miles (160 km) away.

The intensity of the blast at Beirut port threw victims into the sea, including many port and custom employees, as well as people driving through the area during the Tuesday evening rush hour. At least 135 people were killed, with the death toll expected to rise further.

Lebanon's main grain silo at Beirut port was destroyed, leaving the nation with less than a month's reserves of the grain, the economy minister said.

President Michel Aoun said 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate, used in fertilisers and as an explosive for quarrying and mining, had been stored for six years at the port without safety measures.

Sources reported that a fire started in warehouse 9 of Beirut’s port.

The fire spread to the site where warehouse 12 stood, which stored ammonium nitrate that exploded.

Lebanon's main grain silo was destroyed.

Satellite image captured on Aug. 5, 2020: Planet Labs Inc

Sources reported that a fire started in warehouse 9 of Beirut’s port.

The fire spread to the site where warehouse 12 stood, which stored ammonium nitrate that exploded.

Lebanon's main grain silo was destroyed.

Satellite image captured on Aug. 5, 2020: Planet Labs Inc

Sources reported that a fire started in warehouse 9 of Beirut’s port.

The fire spread to the site where warehouse 12 stood, which stored ammonium nitrate that exploded.

Lebanon's main grain silo was destroyed.

Satellite image captured on Aug. 5, 2020: Planet Labs Inc

Sources reported that a fire started in warehouse 9 of Beirut’s port.

The fire spread to the site where warehouse 12 stood, which stored ammonium nitrate that exploded.

Lebanon's main grain silo was destroyed.

Satellite image captured on Aug. 5, 2020: Planet Labs Inc

Initial investigations indicate the blast was caused by years of inaction and negligence over the storage of highly explosive material, an official source familiar with the findings said.

"It is negligence," the official source told Reuters, adding that the storage issue had come before several committees and judges and "nothing was done."

Beirut Governmental Hospital

200m

Karantina

Saint George Hospital

Warehouse storing ammonium nitrate exploded on Aug 4, shortly after 6 p.m. local time

Zuhair Murad Bldg.

Port of Beirut

Area of incident

Hopital des Soeurs du Rosaire

Sursock Museum

Mediterranean Sea

Hospital Wardieh

Al Marfa’a

BEIRUT

Gemmayzeh

Downton Beirut

Beirut Central District

The egg

Metropole cinema

Majidiyeh

Mohammad Al-Amin Mosque

Nimjeh Square

Beirut Souks (Shopping mall)

Grand Serail (Government Palace)

Mediterranean Sea

Beirut Central District

Port of Beirut

Karantina

Beirut Governmental Hospital

Area of incident

Majidiyeh

Warehouse storing ammonium nitrate exploded on Aug 4, shortly after 6 p.m. local time

Beirut Souks (Shopping mall)

Al Marfa’a

Downton Beirut

Nimjeh Square

Grand Serail (Government Palace)

Zuhair Murad Bldg.

Hospital Wardieh

Gemmayzeh

Mohammad Al-Amin Mosque

Sursock Museum

Saint George Hospital

The egg

Metropole cinema

BEIRUT

200m

Mediterranean Sea

Beirut Central District

Karantina

Port of Beirut

Beirut Governmental Hospital

Majidiyeh

Area of incident

Warehouse storing ammonium nitrate exploded on Aug 4, shortly after 6 p.m. local time

Beirut Souks (Shopping mall)

Al Marfa’a

Downton Beirut

Grand Serail (Government Palace)

Nimjeh Square

Zuhair Murad Bldg.

Hospital Wardieh

Hopital des Soeurs du Rosaire

Gemmayzeh

Mohammad Al-Amin Mosque

Saint George Hospital

The egg

Metropole cinema

Sursock Museum

BEIRUT

200m

Karantina

Saint George Hospital

Warehouse storing ammonium nitrate exploded on Aug 4, shortly after 6 p.m. local time

Port of Beirut

Area of incident

BEIRUT

Mediterranean Sea

Al Marfa’a

Gemmayzeh

Beirut Central District

Mohammad Al-Amin Mosque

Majidiyeh

Nimjeh Square

200m

More than 5,000 people were injured in the explosion and up to 250,000 were left without homes fit to live in after shockwaves smashed building facades, sucked furniture out into streets and shattered glass miles inland.

PHOTO
View of the blast site from the nearby Gemmayzeh neighborhood. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir
PHOTO
A man removes broken glass scattered on the carpet of the Mohammad AlAmin Mosque. REUTERS/Aziz Taher
PHOTO
A woman pushing a wheelchair at the damaged Al Roum Hospital. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir

Roads were strewn with glass and debris. Cars near the port were flipped over.

A dangerous compound

Ammonium nitrate is relatively safe if uncontaminated and stored properly. But the compound, often used in fertiliser, can be dangerous when exposed to intense heat. Storing the chemical near large fuel tanks, in large quantities and in a poorly-ventilated facility could cause a massive blast.

Explosions like this are not unprecedented – three similar incidents in the last century involved large amounts of ammonium nitrate and killed hundreds of people.

Germany

Oppau

September 21, 1921
An explosion of approximately 450 tonnes of ammonium sulphate and nitrate fertiliser killed 565 people.

United States

Texas City

April 16, 1947
A fire aboard a vessel with 2,200 tonnes of fertiliser containing ammonium nitrate caused an explosion that triggered a tidal wave. At least 567 people were killed and more than 5,000 injured.

Tianjin

China

August 12, 2015
Explosions at a warehouse storing various chemicals including 800 tonnes of ammonium nitrate killed at least 116 people.

A city under strain

The blast was the most powerful ever to rip through Lebanon’s capital, a city still scarred by civil war three decades ago and reeling from an economic meltdown and a surge in coronavirus infections, reporting some of the highest numbers of cases since the pandemic began.

For many, it was a dreadful reminder of the 1975 to 1990 civil war that tore the nation apart and destroyed swathes of Beirut, much of which had been rebuilt.

The port district was left a tangled wreck, disabling the nation's main route for imports needed to feed a nation of more than 6 million people. Lebanon has already been struggling to house and feed hundreds of thousands of refugees from Syria.

Sources: Maps4News; Natural Earth; Analysis, Research and Information on Accidents (ARIA) database, Ministry of Environment of France; Reuters; Planet Labs Inc; Atmospheric and Oceanic Science Letters

Additional reporting by Samia Nakhoul, Ellen Francis, Maha El Dahan, Maayan Lubell, Guy Faulconbridge and Josephine Mason
Graphics by Aditi Bhandari, Prasanta Kumar Dutta and Michael Ovaska
Edited by Jon McClure