Beirut Explosion

[Wulf202]

I wonder if grain dust played any role

[Duman]

I wonder if the grain elevators acted as a deflector, bouncing shock waves back in the direction of the explosion, causing more damage in one direction than another.

[Gman]

Right picture: Winner of "Least required labeling of the year" award.

O2

Yeah, I saw that label and then my mind went, "Are you sure?"

[BushMasterBoy]

I think once the ammonium nitrate turns liquid due to a fire, the explosion occurs. The stuff melts at 337.8 Fahrenheit according to USCG. Then it decomposes rapidly supplying nitrous oxide to the combustible black powder fireworks.

"During a fire in a facility where ammonium nitrate is present, the ammonium nitrate can become hot and molten which makes the material very sensitive to shock and detonation, particularly if it becomes contaminated with incompatible material such as combustibles, flammable liquids, acids, chlorates, chlorides, sulfur, metals, charcoal, sawdust, etc. If a molten mass becomes confined (e.g., in drains, pipes or machinery), it can explode."

EPA/OSHA/ATF; Chemical Advisory: Safe Storage, Handling, and Management of Ammonium Nitrate EPA 550-S-13-001, p.6 (August 2013). Available from, as of November 21, 2013: http://www.epa.gov/oem/docs/chem/AN_advisory.pdf

Source:

https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/com...tal-Properties

[Delfuego]

Attachment 82572

[Delfuego]

Attachment 82574Attachment 82573

[hollohas]

Tons of VERY interesting backstory here.

https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitic...rut-blast-saga

in short, material originated in Russia, was intended to go to Mozambique and Russian man was paid $1M to transport it. Ship was not ship-shape and crew was mutinous. It entered Beirut where it was confiscated and transferred off. The Port tried unsuccessfully for 7 years to get the government to do something with it, even offering it to farmers. But nothing. Now the Port's officials have been put under house arrest for negligence.

And then later, more warnings, which apparently are in writing in legal documents:

“In view of the serious danger posed by keeping this shipment in the warehouses in an inappropriate climate,” Shafik Marei, the director of Lebanese customs, wrote in May 2016, “we repeat our request to demand the maritime agency to re-export the materials immediately.”

Biggest non-military blast in history...

[.455_Hunter]

The whole thing reads like a plot for a Tom Clancy novel by just adding a nefarious source for the ignition.

[BushMasterBoy]

First crop circle I have ever seen with a tree in the middle of it. Lebanon's flag has a tree in the middle of it. And of course the glyph is in a wheat field.

Links below of new crop circle and Lebanons flag...

http://cropcircleconnector.com/2020/...erne2020a.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lebano...of_Lebanon.svg

[Irving]

Looks like a perfect match.