A massive explosion rocked Beirut, the capital city of Lebanon, on Tuesday sending shock waves rippling through the city. The detonation killed at least 100 people and further injured 4,000, according to the country’s health minister. Those figures are likely to rise.
The explosion was caught on video from multiple angles and is genuinely terrifying:
Another angle of the blast
pic.twitter.com/aGmyk8oA5b— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) August 4, 2020
There are reports the blast happened at Hangar 12 at the Port of Beirut, where authorities had allegedly stored substantial quantities of ammonium nitrate after salvaging it from a cargo ship six years ago.
She quotes her husband as having told her what the health and safety report said at the time.
Unfortunately, our entire harbour is on fire, so I don’t think an independent verification can authenticate the ongoing NaNo3 salvage narrative.— Riam Dalati (@Dalatrm) August 4, 2020
I have no words. Please keep Beirut in your prayers.
— #RebuildBeirut (@LebaneseProblem) August 4, 2020
The damage to the city of 1.5 million appears to be extensive:
https://twitter.com/SVNewsAlerts/status/1290682641558241283
Windows were blown out of buildings up to six miles away.
Here’s a video of the Beirut explosion from a long distance away. It shifted the clouds. Turn your sound on and wait for the shockwave to hit. pic.twitter.com/N96583ucrR
— Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) August 4, 2020
BREAKING: Massive explosion in Beirut. Footage from the daily star office now in Lebanon pic.twitter.com/2uBsKP5wCH
— Ghada Alsharif (@GhadaaSharif) August 4, 2020
The ultimate cause of the blast has not yet been confirmed. An official investigation is underway.
UPDATE: Here is the latest information as of Wednesday morning from Lebanon’s interior minister. (ABC News)
Interior Minister Mohammed Fahmi told a local TV station that it appeared the blast was caused by the detonation of more than 2,700 tons of ammonium nitrate that had been stored in a warehouse at the dock ever since it was confiscated from a cargo ship in 2014. Witnesses reported seeing an orange cloud like that which appears when toxic nitrogen dioxide gas is released after an explosion involving nitrates.
…
The explosion came amid ongoing tensions between Israel and the Hezbollah military group on Lebanon’s southern border. Many residents reported hearing planes overhead just before the blast, fueling rumors of an attack, though Israeli military overflights are common.
An Israeli government official said Israel “had nothing to do” with the blast. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the matter with the news media. Israeli officials usually do not comment on “foreign reports.” The Israeli government offered emergency assistance through international intermediaries.
President Donald Trump said the U.S. “stands ready to assist Lebanon,” and U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo extended his “deepest condolences.”
Jake Walker
Jake Walker has written for American Action News since the summer of 2019. His passions include geopolitics, history, and contemporary American politics. Jake's arrival in Washington, D.C. followed a rural New England upbringing in a tight-knit family.
Warehouse, storing…”fireworks”????
This amount of damage, looks more like larger munitions
….than just “fireworks”. At least that’s my impression.
How’s it going Scott? Keep up the good work!
You are correct, black powder used in fireworks is a rather anemic explosive. The devastation was too extensive to be fireworks.
Reports indicate that there was a large warehouse at the docks near the first incident that was storing large quatity of ammonium nitrate salvaged from a ship.
2,700 TONs of Ammonium Nitrate (red clouds) from ship. Oklahoma City Federal building (McVey) was less than a ton (estimate 3/4 ton). Let your imagination do the math.
There was white smoke pouring out a while ….before the explosion.
I’m sad that it didn’t level the city.
Better luck next time.
It leveled a goo part of that city. Look at what has destroyed Beruit? The Christians and Muslims lived in peace for decades. So who started the violence? The MUSLIMS did. Who always starts the violence THE MUSLIMS.
That shape is simuler to a-bonb
Thank you. I said the same thing
WGAF?
Mighty Mo’s Al sure knows how to joke around.
I’m too busy having a pandemic to care.
Who the heck leaves sodium nitrate piled up like cord wood. Never heard of spontaneous combustion?
I know, Vern, put this dynamite under yer mattress.
You lack much info. In the WEST, Texas explosion, (I used to run trains through West and went right by that plant), it took a fire that had burned for quite a while before the nitrate blew. Yes, it does take a TRIGGER. And one such trigger would be a bomb, or a primer or the heat of a fire.
Obviously someone had dirt on the Clinton crime family.
Now they know what 9-11 was.
The orangish-brown smoke indicates a nitrate based explosion.
Finally found a video of the entire event. First there was a fire with fireworks. Then there was the orangish-brown of the ammonium niltrate. Then there was the blast that was the most powerful. It was white and was NOT from the nitrate. My guess is real bombs were stored there too. And with the history of the area, I would guess the whole warehouse was a warehouse form munitions for the muslim terrorists.
Trump said he thought it was a BOMB. Immediately all the medias and Democrats attacked and said FOR SURE it was not. And yet, I have heard NOTHING that would say that it was not a bomb that started the explosion. In fact I see evidence that it WAS a bomb that was the initial cause. THEN there was the secondary explosion that was the going off of the TONS OF AMMONIUM NITRATE.
So let’s hear from all you ANTI-TRUMPERS. What was the cause of the INITIAL blast that set off the nitrate?
GOTCHA.