Massive Blast in Beirut 08/04/2020

[Cyber Liberty]

Google Maps answers a lot of questions.  That section of the port has grain Silos.  Likely Ammonium Nitrate (fertilizer).  The big building is grain silos. Similar explosion in 1947 in Texas City, Texas which witnesses also claim looked like a nuclear explosion and was the largest explosion ever in the U.S.

As for Trump's response, he's already claiming it was a bomb. Way too soon for him to be making the claim that it was an attack.

Impeach him again!  Harder!!

[skeeter]

White structure near the original fire seems to be a very large grain elevator.
When empty or partially empty, these can be vulnerable to huge explosions due to the highly volatile dust inside.

Some URLs (these may be repeats of those already posted):

https://twitter.com/ConflictsW/status/1290676395316850688

https://twitter.com/Sputnik_Insight/status/1290668363459559424

https://twitter.com/FadyRoumieh/status/1290669185715118086

https://twitter.com/search?q=%23lebanon&src=typed_query

It looked as though there were smaller explosions before the big blast. Sodium nitrate would go off all at once without warning, wouldn't it?

[Elderberry]

Error 404 (Not Found)!!1

Breaking: Death toll in Beirut explosions rises to 50 people. At least 2,750 people are injured.

By Strange Sounds -Aug 4, 2020

https://strangesounds.org/2020/08/beirut-explosion-video-picture-aftermath-injuries.html

Beirut Explosion Causes Widespread Damage, Kills More Than 50 and Injures at Least 2,750 – Watch the Giant Mushroom Cloud and the Devastating Aftermath of the Massive Blast in These Insane Videos

A large blast has hit the Lebanese capital, Beirut, causing widespread damage, killing at least 50 and injuring more than 2,000 people, officials say.
Reports say the explosion was in the port area of the city, with unconfirmed reports of a second blast. It is not clear what caused them.

[mystery-ak]

Trump calls Beirut explosion an 'attack'
https://thehill.com/policy/international/510571-trump-calls-beirut-explosion-an-attack

[Cyber Liberty]

Error 404 (Not Found)!!1

Breaking: Death toll in Beirut explosions rises to 50 people. At least 2,750 people are injured.

By Strange Sounds -Aug 4, 2020

https://strangesounds.org/2020/08/beirut-explosion-video-picture-aftermath-injuries.html

[Wingnut]

That was a pretty mushroom type cloud looking explosion.   Some say the should check for radiation at the blast site.......

[Cyber Liberty]

That was a pretty mushroom type cloud looking explosion.   Some say the should check for radiation at the blast site.......

The concussion of that blast is amazing.  They say "50 dead," but that's bullshit.  There's a Hella lot more than that.

[skeeter]

That was a pretty mushroom type cloud looking explosion.   Some say the should check for radiation at the blast site.......

If this is a sodium nitrate explosion this would have to be the most unlucky port facility ever, to have a raging fire start right next door to ill advisedly stored chemicals that weren't supposed to be there in the first place. 'Cause there was something else burning & exploding pretty well before hand.

[Right_in_Virginia]

Breaking911
@Breaking911

BREAKING UPDATE: The Israeli Government has approached the Lebanese government via diplomatic channels and offered humanitarian and medical assistance following deadly explosion

3:04 PM · Aug 4, 2020·Twitter for iPhone

https://twitter.com/Breaking911/status/1290725325513658368

[Cyber Liberty]

It's hard to say.  Beirut still looks like the Beirut of the late 70's.  A bombed out shell.  When I saw the pictures of the aftermath, I kept asking myself, "What's new in this picture?"  the devestation still looks the same. 

[Right_in_Virginia]

Wojciech Pawelczyk
@Woj_Pawelczyk

President @realDonaldTrump on the Beirut explosion: I've met with some of our great generals. They just seemed to feel like it was an attack

Video:

https://twitter.com/Woj_Pawelczyk/status/1290778407471587329

6:35 PM · Aug 4, 2020·Twitter Web App

[skeeter]

Bit different feel to the truth than just 'Trump Calls It An Attack'.

I effing hate the media.

[Right_in_Virginia]

Bit different feel to the truth than just 'Trump Calls It An Attack'.

I effing hate the media.

 

[Right_in_Virginia]

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 2,700 were injured….

Abbas Ibrahim, chief of Lebanese General Security, said the explosion might have been caused by highly explosive material that was confiscated from a ship some time ago and stored at the port. Local television channel LBC said the material was sodium nitrate….

Witnesses reported seeing a strange orange-colored cloud over the site after the explosion. Orange clouds of toxic nitrogen dioxide gas often accompany an explosion involving nitrates.

Video taken by residents showed a fire raging at the port, sending up a giant column of smoke, illuminated by flashes of what appear to be fireworks. Local TV stations reported that a fireworks warehouse was involved.

The fire then appeared to catch at a nearby building, triggering a more massive explosion, sending up a mushroom cloud and a shock wave.

Hours after the explosion ambulances were still carrying away the wounded. Officials said the city’s hospitals were filled to capacity….

The cause of the blast is under investigation but Hezbollah is already in the limelight, multiple intelligence sources told Fox News.

“There are cars with dead people in the streets under rubble, and the medical infrastructure was already at full speed due to the pandemic and lack of supplies,” one source in the region said.

Another source told Fox News that the port was unofficially controlled by Hezbollah, thus pointing out that other adverse players in the region could have played a role.

https://www.jihadwatch.org/2020/08/lebanon-massive-explosion-in-beirut-at-least-50-dead-1000s-injured-hizballah-already-in-the-limelight

[Right_in_Virginia]

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.

https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/lebanon-pm-hassan-diab-on-beirut-blasts-2-750-tonnes-of-ammonium-nitrate-exploded-2274291

[Wingnut]

The concussion of that blast is amazing.  They say "50 dead," but that's bullshit.  There's a Hella lot more than that.

If it was a corona virus count we would multiply that number by 100. 

[AllThatJazzZ]

Is there a difference between sodium nitrate and ammonium nitrate? The moment I saw this I thought it looked exactly like Texas City 1947, but the reporter said sodium nitrate. Some reports say ammonium, others say sodium. Whatever. I'm sure it'll be cleared up in time. All I could think of was Texas City in '47, except with much clearer footage of the event. My heart goes out to those who experienced this horror.

[GtHawk]

The concussion of that blast is amazing.  They say "50 dead," but that's bullshit.  There's a Hella lot more than that.

Kind of hard to count a body if it's vaporized.

[AllThatJazzZ]

The concussion of that blast is amazing.  They say "50 dead," but that's bullshit.  There's a Hella lot more than that.

Good grief. It's only a few hours into the event. There's no way anyone could expect them to have anything even close to an accurate count. It's likely to be months. There will be fragments of bodies that will wash ashore or be strewn throughout the landscape. There will be people who never return home. There will be corpses under all that rubble. This is simply a preliminary report of a breaking news story.

[Sighlass]

That wall of sound even walled up the ocean it was traveling over...  I have shot a .308 and seen a 50cal shot, not even close... seen a canon shot close range, not even close again to this... never have I see a sound wave like that baring a nuclear blast footage. That is a scramble your guts explosion.

[sneakypete]

Similar explosion in 1947 in Texas City, Texas which witnesses also claim looked like a nuclear explosion and was the largest explosion ever in the U.S. The Sodium Nitrate  explosion claim seems likely.

@NavyCanDo

Static electricity can set this stuff off if it is stored in an enclosed space with no air circulation in weather this hot.

These silos MUST be grounded as well as have ample air circulation.

The explosion could have came from something as simple as a circuit that controls the fans was shorted out. Yeah,there are SUPPOSED to be controls with warning lights and physical checks,but the reality doesn't always match with the "supposed to be".

As for Trump's response, he's already claiming it was a bomb. Way too soon for him to be making the claim that it was an attack.

Unless he already knows something the rest of us don't know,I agree. It ain't like waiting a day or two for evidence to show up before popping off would hurt anything. After all,this ain't politics UNTIL AND UNLESS it is determined to have been an act of terrorism.

[sneakypete]

That was a pretty mushroom type cloud looking explosion.   Some say the should check for radiation at the blast site.......

@Wingnut

Somebody is always saying something.

Meanwhile,there are professionals whose job it  is to determine the cause of the explosion already on the job,and I am going to take a wild guess and say they showed up with Geiger Counters or their modern digital replacements already in hand.

Now,IF you are asking "IF it was determined to have been a nuclear blast,will this information be made public?",dats a hole nuther question.

[sneakypete]

The concussion of that blast is amazing.  They say "50 dead," but that's bullshit.  There's a Hella lot more than that.

@Cyber Liberty

In a city as built-up and populated as Beirut,the true number will have to be closer to 500 dead than 50 dead.

Of course,it is likely to take the authorities weeks to clear away all the rubble to get a truly accurate count.

[Lando Lincoln]

Check out the crater left behind from the blast.  That bank of grain silos actually deflected some of the shock wave up and away from the opposite harbor and the city beyond. 

[Lando Lincoln]