Lebanon: On Tuesday, a deadly explosion occurred in the Lebanese capital Beirut. Authorities are still investigating what was causing the explosion in Beirut. But public statements by prominent Lebanese authorities have begun to focus on Ammonium nitrate.
It was kept in a warehouse near the port. Ammonium nitrate, a compound of Ammonia and Nitrogen, is best known for being used in fertilizers and – because it is incredibly volatile – bombs.
Lebanese Prime Minister Hassan Dib said an estimated 2,750 tones of the substance had been stored there for the past six years. According to Lebanon’s general security chief, “highly explosive material” was seized several years ago.
In 1995, the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City was bombed, 169 people were killed and 467 were injured, used two tons of ammonium nitrate.
A terrible accident recorded in the history of America which took place in April 1979. An ammonium nitrate filled ship caught fire in Texas City.
According to US Homeland Security, the explosion occurred with 2,300 tons of ammonium nitrate. According to the Texas Historical Association website, the explosion killed about 400 people and damaged more than 1,000 buildings.
What do you want to know?
- On Tuesday in Lebanon’s capital, Beirut, the Lebanese health minister said that at least 78 people were killed and 4,000 were injured in a major explosion.
- It is still unclear what caused the explosion, focusing on the city’s port area. It was previously convicted of arson.
- Lebanese Prime Minister said that an investigation estimated an estimated 2,750 tons of explosive ammonium nitrate, to be stored in a warehouse for six years.
- A CNN senior international correspondent said that the explosion felt like an earthquake, while a witness said he had never felt such an explosion in the city.
Tony May, a former explosive investigator with the US Department of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, told CNN that the video of the explosion in Beirut provides important clues as to what happened.
“I have done a lot of accident investigations with the government, both national and international. It is clear to me that it was a large amount of explosive or energetic material that was stored in a building that caught fire and the explosives were set on fire Spread. Due to the May accident, “May, who now works as a safety and explosives consultant.
No Yellow Smoke: May said that while he was in Baghdad, the telltale sign of an ammonium nitrate explosive was a cloud of yellow smoke Pink or red clouds, he said, “did not correspond to ammonium nitrate.”
However, May stated that ammonium nitrate was not necessarily included. This could mean that “others were doing well as objects,” he said.
White flashes: The white flashes that appear in various parts of the video may indicate that small explosions were occurring in large shock waves, May said.