The power of the explosion that destroyed the port of Beirut was estimated at 1,8 kilotons

August 5 2020 24

On August 5, two explosions thundered in Beirut, one of which practically destroyed the port and in one way or another damaged about half of the buildings and structures of the city. The Lebanese experts estimated the detonation power at 1,8 kilotons in TNT equivalent.

According to eyewitnesses, at first a column of smoke was visible over the port, and then a violent explosion thundered, leaving behind a mushroom cloud over the city. The blast wave destroyed many buildings and overturned cars. It is reported that about 100 people became victims of the incident, about 4 thousand people were injured. However, there may be more victims, since many people are under the rubble of collapsed buildings. The city's hospitals are overcrowded - the Lebanese Red Cross reported.

According to the BBC, Beirut's port infrastructure has been almost completely destroyed - a heavy blow to the country. economy which is mostly built on imports. The explosion was so strong that it was heard even in Cyprus, located at a distance of 240 km from Beirut.

The blast wave damaged the consulate of Kazakhstan - the consul of the country received minor damage. The Russian consulate was also hurt, where one of the employees was injured. According to the UN, the explosions damaged the warship of the organization's peacekeeping mission. Among the victims were several employees of the German consulate.

According to Lebanese President Michel Aoun, the explosion was caused by the detonation of 2750 tons of ammonium nitrate (ammonium nitrate) stored in the port of Beirut without taking necessary measures. equipment safety - hazardous substances have been stored there since 2014.

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Vladimir Tuzakov

-8

5 August 2020 14: 45

The first question, where did such a concentration of explosive substances come from, is who is the supplier, according to whose decree everything was unloaded there (ammonium nitrate!), Initial conditions, etc. ..... Second, why such a dangerous concentration of dangerous goods was kept in one place for five years !!! It looks like a pre-planned sabotage ... It is not difficult to find beneficiaries - Israel, here is the USA - always looks like Israel's henchman! (tail wags the dog). Its pro-Israel policy in the Middle East .... I am not against Israel as a Jewish state, it should have the right to a normal existence. But the British, in their attempts to remain dominant, are aimed at revenge and expansion of aggressive Arab-Jewish relations .. This is basically the answer: when the Israeli pioneers blew up the British (victims for 80 British officials), then the British decided to act differently, substituted the state of Israel under by all adversity, as revenge of denial of one's domination ... Basically, it is seen as the long-drawn-out problems in the history of Anglo - Jewish global relations, outgrown, but the rudiments of problems in the English Mi-6.
1. Michael1950
  
  +1
  
  6 August 2020 10: 44
  
  Now, kids, the correct answer!
  
  It is said that at the beginning it was not even the Hezbollah weapons depot that caught fire, but the Chinese pyrotechnics depot. And this served as a detonator for the explosion of ammonium nitrate ...
123

-1

5 August 2020 15: 26

The agrarians have played out. Only in the country of unafraid idiots can keep so much fertilizer in the port. In Soviet times, it was freely available in fairly decent volumes, the bags were simply stored in the fields, so as not to carry it far and absolutely no one needed it. It was just fertilizer, and the country ... we were "not frightened idiots".
True, we impregnated her paper, the "smoke pots" turned out to be decent. For children's fun, like explosions of low power, it was not used, there were a lot of other interesting ingredients. And then the war began in Chechnya, and some people came in handy with all these supplies. Is life in Lebanon so peaceful?
As far as I remember, it does not explode by itself. What was it, an accident or ..... most likely, they will never know. Let's wait for details, if it comes up that the explosion was not destroyed, for example, a batch of interesting weapons or some "field commanders" were killed and so on, then the probability of a terrorist attack or, if you care, sabotage is most likely.
Natan bruk

+5

5 August 2020 17: 27

In the comments, as expected, conspiracy theories went. Everything is much simpler - the traditional Arab carelessness, multiplied by the absolute disregard for elementary safety techniques, also traditional in those parts. For four (!) Years, more than two thousand tons of explosive confiscated goods were stored in a warehouse near the port - they could not find what to do with it. Naturally, it was caked, recrystallized, hot, and like a cherry on the cake - welding (!) Next to all this.
1. Natan bruk
  
  +3
  
  5 August 2020 18: 07
  
  Amendment - 6 years. Since 2014, since the moment of confiscation. Now they are pounding on each other - port officers to customs and vice versa.
BoBot Robot - Free Thinking Machine

-1

5 August 2020 18: 33

So now anyone can just buy a bag of saltpeter and blow up the whole house? This must be considered, gentlemen!
Cyril

+2

5 August 2020 19: 26

Scary ... Sorry for the people, and not only the dead and wounded.
Alexzn

+2

5 August 2020 19: 45

There are a few non-conspiracy issues. 6 years in the warehouse - isn't it a lot for the confiscated goods? 6 years in the warehouse, where the rent is not the cheapest, who paid for it? Could explosives be stored just like that in an area controlled by Hezbollah? Did Hezbollah view nitrate as a potential feedstock? What led to the detonation - a fire or something else?
Tramp1812

+4

5 August 2020 19: 48

Quote: Vladimir Tuzakov
The first question, where did such a concentration of explosive substances come from, is who the supplier, according to whose decree everything was unloaded there (ammonium nitrate!), The initial conditions, etc. ..... Second, why such a dangerous concentration of dangerous goods was kept in one place for five years !!! Everything looks like a pre-planned sabotage ... It is not difficult to find beneficiaries - Israel, here is the USA - always looks like Israel's henchman! (tail wags the dog). Its pro-Israel policy in the Middle East .... I am not against Israel as a Jewish state, it should have the right to a normal existence. But the British, trying to remain dominant, are aimed at revenge and the expansion of aggressive Arab-Jewish relations .. This is basically the answer: when the Israeli pioneers blew up the British (victims for 80 British officials), then the British decided to act differently, substituted the state of Israel under by all adversities, as revenge of denial of one's domination ... Basically, it is seen as the long-drawn-out problems in the history of Anglo-Jewish global relations, outgrown, but the rudiments of problems in English Mi 6.

Someone about what, and naked about the bath. And, as always, the same thing: aplomb, fantasies and corresponding conclusions. I will try, to the best of my weakness, to answer your questions. The cargo arrived on a Russian ship chartered by a Russian businessman. Currently living in Cyprus. The Lebanese authorities confiscated the cargo and stored it, where he waited for an emergency for five years. Which, like a fire in Voronya Slobodka, simply had to happen. Since the port is constantly loading and unloading operations with appropriate shaking. By itself, ammonium nitrate cannot explode; a concussion is needed. Welding work was carried out nearby, plus shaking. At one time, Ukrainian warrant officers in the ammunition depot for scrap metal with an electric saw ... It also exploded notably. Now about the beneficiaries. The Lebanese-Israeli border is the quietest, since a dozen years. Lebanon poses no threat to Israel as an adversary. At one time there was a joke in Israel that the IDF brass band was enough to conquer this country. The explosion did not damage Hezbollah's infrastructure, and none of the militants were killed. Lebanon is not a rival to Israel. So why on earth? By the way, even in Iran it did not occur to accuse Israel of the explosion in the port. And none of the countries in the world at all. This glorious thought has visited only your bright mind.
1. Vladimir Tuzakov
  
  -3
  
  5 August 2020 22: 14
  
  Nothing in the world happens without a reason ... I wonder what the name of the supplier of saltpeter to Libya from the Russian Federation is, not Fogelson or it seems ... Well, yes, even nuclear submarines catch fire from welding, especially when welders were trained at the CIA ...
  1. Tramp1812
    
    +4
    
    5 August 2020 23: 43
    
    Quote: Vladimir Tuzakov
    Nothing in the world happens without a reason ... I wonder what the name of the supplier of saltpeter to Libya from the Russian Federation is, not Fogelson or it seems ... Well, yes, even nuclear submarines catch fire from welding, especially when welders were trained at the CIA ...
    
    No, not Fogelson. The name and surname of the owner of the vessel - Igor Grechushkin - a citizen of Russia. Lives in Cyprus. The team consists of four people: three are citizens of Ukraine, one is from Russia. Fogelson was maliciously hiding in saltpeter in warehouse number 12 in the port of Beirut. At the same time, he intensively studied the instructions of the Mossad about the agent "Mouse", which waved its tail and blew up the gold reserve of the USSR. Agent Fogelson, after waiting for the cherished minute, sneezed loudly and viciously, causing the detonation of ammonium nitrate, which exploded. At the same time, the Jewish saboteur himself managed to jump out of the exploded premises. And fly away towards Tel Aviv on a Carlson propeller.
    1. Vladimir Tuzakov
      
      -2
      
      6 August 2020 12: 02
      
      So everything needs to be said: the ship under the Moldovan flag was loaded with saltpeter in Batumi, Georgia, and was supposed to go to Africa (Sera Leone), but malfunctions went along the way and the ship moored in Beirut. The Maritime Inspectorate has FORBIDDEN the further use of the vessel as unsafe. The ship is ABANDONED by the owner, the ship's crew is disbanded. The ownerless ship stood for a long time with the cargo, until the court ordered the cargo to be unloaded to the warehouses ... This is the whole story of the appearance of such a quantity of nitrate, and it looks like a special one. operation (the ship broke down in the right place and THROWNED - that is, they put a mine in the right place and cannot be moved, the owner has left, someone else's property must go a long way through the courts ... Remembering the war, and IDF raids in Lebanon, very a clear military operation with investments and a legend for the receipt of ammonium nitrate, essentially explosives ... In little things, Igor Grechushkin has a very typical name and surname for Russian Jews, and does not have an Israeli passport, and where is he now, because the investigation will be to him have questions ... This is, of course, a version, but there are many coincidences ...
      1. Michael I
        
        +1
        
        6 August 2020 19: 31
        
        “Where there was once a warehouse near the port, there is now only a huge crater. (...) The world is asking the question: why were thousands of tons of highly explosive ammonium nitrate stored like a time bomb in the port? Bild investigation reveals: a terrorist organization Hezbollah is at least involved in the tragedy, if not solely responsible for it. "
        After the ship Rhosus was detained in the port of Beirut, "the owner of the ship disappeared with his money, and the alleged buyers in Mozambique" did not show any movement, "the then captain of the ship, Boris Prokoshev, told Radio Liberty.
        "A suspicion arises: the alleged delivery of goods to Africa was only a pretext to deliver explosives to Hezbollah's reach," the authors of the article, Mohammad Rabi and Julian Repke, believe.
        "The Lebanese firm Majid Shammas & CO., Which almost has the same name as the city of Majdal Shams in the Golan Heights conquered by Israel in 1967, offered to buy almost 2014 thousand tons of explosives in early 3. The company was already secretly selling explosives to the Syrian dictator Assad in 2013. - one of Hezbollah's closest allies, the newspaper writes.
        "The customs documents in Bild's possession show that in August 2016 and June 2017, two customs directors pressured a Lebanese court to approve the purchase of the substance by a firm apparently close to Hezbollah. documents, it was about "dangerous materials", "which are stored in a warehouse in inappropriate external conditions." Second, "the cargo, on the recommendation of the army, can also be sold to the Lebanese company Majid Shammas, specializing in explosives."
        “However, the judge was stubborn. For unknown reasons, he did not answer“ yes ”or“ no. ”One of the insiders said in a conversation with Bild: it may have been an act of civil disobedience to prevent the Hezbollah terrorist organization from taking possession of the explosive substance ".
        “It is also known that the judge’s resistance led to the time bomb still being in the port of Beirut and forgotten over the years. Hezbollah knew that 2750 tons of the substance could be accessed at any time and therefore refrained from trying again. take it over. "
        "However, the Bild investigation shows that terrorists tried other ways to gain access to the highly explosive ammonium nitrate in other ways between 2012 and 2016."
        "Target: to strike at Jewish and Israeli targets around the world. Therefore, between the supply of ammonium nitrate to Beirut and new attempts by terrorists there to take possession of the substance, there is a temporary relationship," the newspaper says.
        "Just a few weeks ago, Israel killed a member of a terrorist group in Damascus, Syria in a targeted airstrike. Hezbollah vowed revenge, and Israel was preparing for an emergency on its northern border."
        "The port administration has reacted to the terrorist group's next interest in explosives? This is supported by the fact that the fire in the warehouse allegedly started during welding work on the building gates. Customs officers tried to protect the explosive from theft, local media reported. On Wednesday evening, Lebanese the government has sent several port employees under arrest ... ", writes Bild.
      2. Michael I
        
        0
        
        6 August 2020 19: 33
        
        Where does the information come from? Watch the interview with the captain of the ship, he tells everything how it was. There was no breakdown, the owner of the ship decided to cut down more attendants, and sent the ship to Beirut to pick up more cargo of some machines. But during loading, they turned out to be too heavy, bent the deck, and the local port authorities prohibited loading. Then the owner of the ship disappeared.
      3. Michael1950
        
        0
        
        6 August 2020 20: 08
        
        Quite right: it was a special operation to supply Hezbollah 2.6 thousand tons of substances for the production of explosives. Since it is difficult to do this directly - there are too many controllers, they carried out the operation: Igor Grechushkin received a million US dollars, loaded 2.6 tons of this ammonium nitrate into Batumi, allegedly for Mozambique, and, without paying the crew a shit, he drove his ship, without the slightest payment, to the port of Beirut - where it was completely natural and perfectly legal to confiscate both the ship and the cargo. The cargo was stored in the port, where representatives of Hezbollah, who completely control the port, took the quantities of saltpeter they needed to produce explosives (elsewhere). And so it went on for 6 years. The abandoned and useless ship sank after two years of standing and lies right there in the port, at the bottom. And the remaining saltpeter, which the Hezbollons did not have time to use, in the end, due to Arab bungling and stupidity, exploded, the initiator of the explosion was a nearby fire in the pyrotechnics warehouse.
        To look for a "Jewish trace" there - even Hezbollah categorically declared that "Israel has nothing to do with it" - of course, - it was all the work of hands, or rather the leadership, rippled from Hezbollah itself. They have one problem now: so that the investigation does not point the finger directly at them - huge destruction and huge material losses - WHO WILL PAY? Since the arrows cannot be translated to Jews ?!
Alexzn

+1

5 August 2020 20: 12

Quote: Cyril
Scary ... Sorry for people, and not only for the dead and wounded

It's a shame. Suddenly flew ... They jinxed the former Middle Eastern Switzerland about 50 years ago.
Tramp1812

+2

5 August 2020 20: 14

Hot on the heels, the Lebanese investigation is considering the following version as a priority. Explosive ammonium nitrate lay in a warehouse in the port until a special court order. The Lebanese customs service has repeatedly requested the court in writing to remove the saltpeter from the warehouse. The cause of the explosion was welding work, during which a warehouse with fireworks exploded, which provoked a detonation at a nearby warehouse with ammonium nitrate. The version is very promising.
Oyo Sarkazmi

+1

5 August 2020 20: 35

Razdolbay is the best terrorist. Not only was the city destroyed - the country was left without bread. In the background there is a granary, along the front it has survived, and from the backyards - into powder ...
1. Michael1950
  
  -1
  
  6 August 2020 10: 47
  
  The country was left without a port - humanitarian aid can only be delivered by air ...
Kuzmich Sibiryakov

+2

5 August 2020 22: 07

Such incidents have occurred many times. The most notable explosion of 12 thousand tons of saltpeter occurred in Germany in 1921.

An explosion at a chemical plant in Oppau is a serious man-made disaster that occurred on September 21, 1921 at the BASF chemical plant located near the town of Oppau, the Palatinate region, which was at that time part of Bavaria (now part of the city of Ludwigshafen am Rhein, land Rhineland-Palatinate), and caused massive casualties and significant destruction.
The explosion occurred at an aniline dye and fertilizer plant, which also produced explosive components and the poisonous gas phosgene. A few months before the disaster, a serious accident had already occurred at the enterprise, resulting in the death of a hundred people: a container in which nitrogen and hydrogen were mixed had exploded.
The immediate cause of the tragedy was a detonation when explosives were used to crush caked stocks of ammonium sulfate and nitrate stored in anticipation of a seasonal peak in sales of agricultural fertilizers in a nearby mined-out clay quarry. Prior to that, for a long time, cardboard tubes with black powder that did not cause detonation were used for these purposes. However, the explosive contractor decided to save money and used a more powerful explosive to loosen the caked salts - recarok (a mixture of berthollet salt with gasoline), which initiated the detonation of the explosive mixture. Exploded 12 thousand tons of a mixture of sulfate and ammonium nitrate, the energy of the explosion was estimated at 4-5 kilotons of TNT equivalent.
In Oppau, out of 1000 buildings, 800 were destroyed, and 7500 people were left homeless. The explosion destroyed the nearby villages of Frankenthal and Edigheim. Trains standing at nearby stations were thrown off the tracks, and within a radius of 70 km, including the cities of Ludwigshafen and Mannheim, windows were shattered in all buildings, the sound of an explosion was heard even in Munich, located 300 km away. After the explosion, which left a funnel measuring 90 x 125 m and a depth of 20 m, a strong fire started, which was extinguished only a few days later. 561 people became victims of the disaster, over one and a half thousand were injured and burned.
The unprecedented power of the explosion, decades later, caused rumors that a nuclear charge, designed by "the brilliant minds of Germany", allegedly exploded in Oppau.
greenchelman

0

6 August 2020 01: 26

What are 1,8 kilotons? What nonsense. Religion does not allow you to look at Wiki? Ammonium nitrate has a coefficient of 0,337. Yes, and it was not 2750 tons that detonated, for six years some of them disappeared.
Alexzn

0

6 August 2020 08: 07

Quote: greenchelman
What are 1,8 kilotons? What nonsense. Religion does not allow you to look at Wiki? Ammonium nitrate has a coefficient of 0,337. Yes, and it was not 2750 tons that detonated, for six years some of them disappeared.

Upon recrystallization, the coefficient increases to 0,6. This is where the kilotons come from. It seems that after all, these are journalistic kilotons, under the most optimal conditions for an explosion with such volumes, a maximum of 50% of saltpeter will be blown up (I think less).
1. Michael1950
  
  0
  
  6 August 2020 10: 48
  
  One kiloton there, according to all calculations ...
  1. Tramp1812
    
    0
    
    6 August 2020 12: 42
    
    Half were stolen.