BEIRUT - Lebanese officials say that thousands of tons of ammonium nitrate stored in a warehouse at the port in Beirut caused the powerful explosion that devastated the city on Tuesday, killing more than 130 people, injuring at least 4,000 and displacing 300,000 from their homes.
What happened in Beirut? Videos posted online from the Beirut waterfront on Aug 4 showed an epic disaster unfold with terrifying speed. How could fertiliser possibly explode? Ammonium nitrate, by itself, is relatively harmless. But if added to a fuel source, and subjected to intense stresses like heat and pressure, it can explode. Although we do not know exactly what happened yet in Beirut, the sheer size of the collected ammonium nitrate offers some clues. If subjected to fire in such bulk quantities, and in a semi-contained environment like a warehouse, the potential for detonation is strong.
How powerful was the explosion in Beirut? It was one of the largest non-nuclear explosions in recent history, according to Brian Castner, lead weapons investigator for Amnesty International's Crisis Response Team."It's the biggest explosion in an urban area in decades," he said."The human impact of it is the important thing, and it affected people a dozen kilometres away.
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