Explosion in Beirut

[o_dawgnabit]

The magnitude of this explosion is crazy. The cause is unknown. Praying for low casualties but something that big doesn't look good

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[Maroon Eagle]

Al Jazeera article is saying hundreds wounded.

 

[L4Dawg]

That looked like ammunition cooking off right before the big explosion.

 

[turkish]

Sure did look like ammo. I read fireworks elsewhere.

 

[johnson86-1]

The magnitude of this explosion is crazy. The cause is unknown. Praying for low casualties but something that big doesn't look good

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Damn. Just saw the screen cap at first and assumed that was the aftermath of the explosion and thought what's the big deal. Obviously not good but bould have been any number of things in an industrial/port setting. Then hit play and saw the actual explosion.

 

[L4Dawg]

Sure did look like ammo. I read fireworks elsewhere.

They say local TV says it was a fireworks storage area.

 

[Xenomorph]

Guessing that's a half megaton explosion.

 

[msstate7]

Sure did look like ammo. I read fireworks elsewhere.

Fireworks? That sounds like crap, but maybe someone had to light a few more bottle rockets while a building was smoking

ETA... just read L4's post, so that makes more sense..

 

[Shmuley]

Yeah. Fireworks. Okay.

 

[WrapItDog]

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[Xenomorph]

Here's your demonstration on the propagation of sound, boys..

I don't mean to make light of the situation because this probably just killed a lot of people. But damn what a sight.

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[jb1020]

Damn. Just saw the screen cap at first and assumed that was the aftermath of the explosion and thought what's the big deal. Obviously not good but bould have been any number of things in an industrial/port setting. Then hit play and saw the actual explosion.

It looks like a freaking Nuke. Geez. that looks horrifying

 

[L4Dawg]

Guessing that's a half megaton explosion.

That would be 25 times bigger than the Hiroshima A bomb. I suppose you meant kiloton.

 

[Xenomorph]

that too

 

[L4Dawg]

Yeah. Fireworks. Okay.

Well, it could have been for Hezbollah's post Ramadan celebration.

 

[EngDawg]

Al Jazeera article is saying hundreds wounded.

Gonna be more than hundreds. That looked massive.

 

[Xenomorph]

That's what kids today call Russian made arty rounds.

 

[fishwater99]

Like a bomb went off, Fireworks? really?

 

[EngDawg]

They say local TV says it was a fireworks storage area.

What kinda of fireworks I wonder? I’m guessing not the pretty kinda you light on New Years.

 

[johnson86-1]

It looks like a freaking Nuke. Geez. that looks horrifying

Wasn't was an explosion at some kind of plant in Texas in the past few years. Can't remember what kind. Maybe fertilizer? But I think it took out a couple of blocks? Or maybe they just had to evacuate a few blocks. Be interested to see that explosion just to compare it to this one.

 

[Xenomorph]

People familiar with the port claiming..

..there was a fireworks storage area adjacent to a 120K ton grain silo.

If so.. who the 17 thought that was a good idea?

 

[WrapItDog]

What kinda of fireworks I wonder? I’m guessing not the pretty kinda you light on New Years.

From Twitter
No cause confirmed yet for explosions in Beirut but possibly a "container of fireworks was burning and the fire spread to reach a nitrate warehouse that led to this massive explosions."

 

[Shmuley]

Very doubtful that the origin is Russian.

 

[turkish]

I mean, fireworks have a goodly portion of gunpowder in them. It’d take a lot of fireworks for something of that scale, but I suppose enough tons of material could do that. But I’m skeptical of that story, too.

 

[aTotal360]

That’s rich.

 

[Xenomorph]

Man, Google Maps is quick on the draw...

https://www.google.com/maps/place/B...29182bae99836b4!8m2!3d33.8937913!4d35.5017767

 

[johnson86-1]

..there was a fireworks storage area adjacent to a 120K ton grain silo.

If so.. who the 17 thought that was a good idea?

Maybe they thought all the dust from the grain silo could put out any fire from the fireworks.**

 

[o_dawgnabit]

I’m not an expert in fireworks... but I don’t think fireworks would make a mushroom cloud like that

 

[johnson86-1]

I mean, fireworks have a goodly portion of gunpowder in them. It’d take a lot of fireworks for something of that scale, but I suppose enough tons of material could do that. But I’m skeptical of that story, too.

I'd be skeptical of anything from that part of the world, but if it were a firework warehouse, that would presumably be a lot of fireworks. And if there was something else explosive next to it (like a grain silo as somebody suggested, or any number of things that might be in an industrial port), I guess that's plausible, especially looking at the video and seeing what is either just a fire or the aftermath of a small explosion. I guess the question is how big was that explosion. I don't have any background that would let me guess whether that was too big to plausibly be the result of an industrial explosion.

 

[ronpolk]

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This video seems to support the fireworks. Lots of little pops before the obvious big explosion.

 

[aTotal360]

Now they are saying it was sodium nitrate that was being stored since it was seized from a boat. Hats off the to the person that decided to store it next to a fireworks plant.

 

[BlueRidgeMtns]

USA Today says

"[FONT=&quot]Lebanese Red Cross official Georges Kettaneh reported hundreds of casualties, people wounded or killed."[/FONT]

 

[Xenomorph]

Hezbollah members on trial for the PM's death. Hezbollah controls the port (think.. Jimmy Hoffa but not as cuddly). The port blows to hell.

Probably just a coinkidink.

 

[AROB44]

Well....it is the Middle East....

 

[fishwater99]

I’m not an expert in fireworks... but I don’t think fireworks would make a mushroom cloud like that

A Nitrate Silo could though.

 

[EngDawg]

Sky News just had an British Army bomb disposal expert on who said the white smoke seen in the blast is consistent with low explosive used in fireworks or similar. He said if it was a purpose built bomb it would have appeared much darker.

 

[Mobile Bay]

This video seems to support the fireworks. Lots of little pops before the obvious big explosion.

And the fact they are popping blue.

 

[Jeffreauxdawg]

Wasn't was an explosion at some kind of plant in Texas in the past few years. Can't remember what kind. Maybe fertilizer? But I think it took out a couple of blocks? Or maybe they just had to evacuate a few blocks. Be interested to see that explosion just to compare it to this one.

It was ammonium nitrate in West, Texas. I was on my way back to Dallas from Austin that night and spent 8 hours stuck in traffic on the interstate. I didn't see or hear it, but the video is below. The one in Beirut looked even bigger.

NSFW language

 

[BlueRidgeMtns]

Seeing those emergency vehicles near that explosion always makes me feel sick to my stomach.

 

[WrapItDog]

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