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.
Yes
@AllThatJazzZ there is a difference. Sodium nitrate NaNO ₃(Chile saltpeter) is a salt most commonly used in the meat curing process. Ammonium nitrate NH4NO3 It is a white crystalline solid and is highly soluble in water. It is predominantly used in agriculture as a high-nitrogen fertilizer.
Its other major use is as a component of explosive mixtures used in mining, quarrying, and civil construction. It is the major constituent of ANFO, a popular industrial explosive which accounts for 80% of explosives used in North America; similar formulations have been used in improvised explosive devices.
So I'm going to come down on the side of Ammonium Nitrate being the culprit in this incident.
That quantity should NEVER have been stored as it was in ANY urban enviornment.