Large Explosion in Beirut

I don’t know what caused it but this video is scary af

https://twitter.com/priapusiq/status/1290677516278038534?s=21

Dante7

There has been a huge explosion in Beirut, possibly in a fireworks factory or a grain silo. It looks absolutely devastating and there will undoubtedly be a lot of fatalaties.

https://twitter.com/PsychologyDoc/status/1290677715503284224?s=20

KevRossi

Arms depot by the looks of it.

dere34

Jaysus, that looks like Beirut...

10000maniacs

Wow this is dreadful.

https://twitter.com/RT_com/status/1290673207595458560

ACitizenErased

Never seen anything like that outside of movies. Incredible. Had to be munitions of some sort.

Signore Fancy Pants

Initial speculation an hour ago of an Israeli airstrike...unfounded. However, its consistent with prior Israeli threats.

Apparently something caught fire and caused a small explosion....which turned into a fcuking big one. Its the Port area storage site, said to have stored fireworks and chemicals.

un5byh7sqpd2x0

It’s an explosion in a fireworks factory / ship carrying fireworks which then took out a gas plant (the final large explosion)

KevRossi

Lots of minor explosions going off in the cloud just before the video in the OP which is either munitions or fireworks.

https://twitter.com/Lobnene_Blog/status/1290675724416884739

marklazarcovic

holy fcuk balls, rip to the many innocents no doubt killed.

i57dwun4yb1pt8

jaysus

Overheal

Fireworks is being said around. Lots of angles of this because people were already tuned into the fire:

https://twitter.com/BNONews/status/1290683729539665920?s=20

https://twitter.com/business/status/1290683781880459271?s=20

https://twitter.com/TheOfficialFNG/status/1290683728470200321?s=20

https://twitter.com/B7KUGO/status/1290683789610569728?s=20

https://twitter.com/HeshmatAlavi/status/1290679069005230081?s=20

https://twitter.com/HeshmatAlavi/status/1290683991369097216?s=20

https://twitter.com/netblocks/status/1290683693598679041?s=20

upupup

a woman on the street is saying she saw jets in the sky and is convinced it is a strike/bomb

Wildsurfer

Ruby Square Rally wrote: »

It’s an explosion in a fireworks factory / ship carrying fireworks which then took out a gas plant (the final large explosion)

A firework factory next to a gas plant... sur what could possibly go wrong!

ACitizenErased

https://twitter.com/GhadaaSharif/status/1290667092488986624?s=20

This seems to narrow down the speculated causes. All sound plausible. A load of smaller blasts were reported as well.

https://twitter.com/ragipsoylu/status/1290680340688834560?s=19

ACitizenErased

https://twitter.com/GebeilyM/status/1290682987894525955?s=20

Signore Fancy Pants

upupup wrote: »

a woman on the street is saying she saw jets in the sky and is convinced it is a strike/bomb

Plenty of aircraft in the sky there, its close to the airport. Israeli jets are flying over Lebanon at the moment but thats "normal".

There are a few who are convinced of a Israeli strike however the current atmospherics suggest it is not likely.

dere34

Looks like 1982 again. Hundreds feared dead. Leb was already in crisis before this.

TheValeyard

Seen the aftermath on Sky News. Huge damage done. Suggested it's a terrible industrial accident

Polar wizard adventure

Fertilizer storage.

ClydeTallyBump

I have seen a few videos of the explosion. I have never seen one like this before. It is like something out of a movie. Horrific.

tedpan

Live feed

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3WXhP2lrBCw

inforfun

https://twitter.com/borzou/status/1290675854767513600

Looks quite a bit like what happened many years ago in Enschede, The Netherlands when a fireworks factory blew up.
Damage there wasnt helped by them storing much more than permitted.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwZ6Lou3uN8

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enschede_fireworks_disaster

This shot would lend further credence to fireworks. Hope the fallout isn't too bad.

https://twitter.com/ptnassif/status/1290677338628399104?s=19

Overheal

upupup wrote: »

a woman on the street is saying she saw jets in the sky and is convinced it is a strike/bomb

No evidence of that in the videos. One videographer was right next to the factory when the big bang happened. It was a fireworks factory by the look of it. No jets heard in any of the footage. :

https://twitter.com/HeshmatAlavi/status/1290683991369097216?s=20

https://twitter.com/HeshmatAlavi/status/1290677606401155073?s=20

https://twitter.com/HeshmatAlavi/status/1290676251011751944?s=20

https://twitter.com/HeshmatAlavi/status/1290674512443461633?s=20

https://twitter.com/HeshmatAlavi/status/1290672287667163137?s=20

LuckyGent88

The videos are just insane. Never seen anything like that before in such clear detail. Certainly looks like a fire at a fireworks/munitions ship but then the explosion is just massive. Must have been some sort of chemical or fertiliser plant nearby.

Gatling

Signore Fancy Pants wrote: »

Plenty of aircraft in the sky there, its close to the airport. Israeli jets are flying over Lebanon at the moment but thats "normal".

There are a few who are convinced of a Israeli strike however the current atmospherics suggest it is not likely.

If it was in Iran or syria I would have agreed ,I'm sure the same people would refuse see it as anything but an Israeli strike.


That last video ^ very mushroom cloud alike

Overheal

Pretty intense and awe inspiring shockwave you can see it here travel on the water

https://twitter.com/HeshmatAlavi/status/1290672745173454849?s=20

Mervyn Skidmore

Reminds me of the explosion in China a few years ago.

TheValeyard

Maybe a mod could merge the two threads?

Signore Fancy Pants

Gatling wrote: »

If it was in Iran or syria I would have agreed ,I'm sure the same people would refuse see it as anything but an Israeli strike.

That last video ^ very mushroom cloud alike

Theres a few videos that show a very definitive mushroom cloud.

Israel and Hezbullah have been "de-escalating" over the last 2 weeks and want to avoid conflict. Despite recent events in Damascus and the Golan, neither want escalation.

Although, Netenyahu was at a security cabinet meeting today, still unlikely it was them. People thinking its an Israeli strike dont grasp the wider context. It it was...this is very much a war footing.

Signore Fancy Pants

Gatling wrote: »

If it was in Iran or syria I would have agreed ,I'm sure the same people would refuse see it as anything but an Israeli strike.

That last video ^ very mushroom cloud alike

Theres a few videos that show a very definitive mushroom cloud.

Israel and Hezbullah have been "de-escalating" over the last 2 weeks and want to avoid conflict. Despite recent events in Damascus and the Golan, neither want escalation.

Although, Netenyahu was at a security cabinet meeting today, still unlikely it was them. People thinking its an Israeli strike dont grasp the wider context. It it was...this is very much a war footing.

i57dwun4yb1pt8

fireworks then a fertiliser explosion / or chemical store explosion ?

Harry Palmr

Enschede fireworks disaster all over again by the look of it.

Overheal

Mushroom cloud is typical for any high-impulse blast, doesn't have to be milspec or nuclear.

Harry Palmr

Looks like fireworks - watch the small explosions before the big bang, in 2000 Enschede fireworks disaster was like this, the final bang there was about 5 Tonnes of TNT

If it had been a bomb or airstrike, would the larger of the explosions happened at the same time as the fire?

ChikiChiki

Can't get over the size of that. Horrible.

dere34

It was heard in Nicosia. This is very bad folks.

dere34

dere34 wrote: »

It was heard in Nicosia. This is very bad folks.

Sadly I think you’re correct. Looking at videos of the impact it had on all those cars.

I really hope it was neglect rather than warfare.

inforfun

https://twitter.com/jenanmoussa/status/1290693050906419200

Overheal

Strawberry Milkshake wrote: »

If it had been a bomb or airstrike, would the larger of the explosions happened at the same time as the fire?

Probably.

Nobody who was already aware of the fire reported an airstrike, or hearing jets, none was heard at the time of the explosion and none was recorded and no evidence of a bomb or missile on target. Odds of it being an airstrike are null.

Gatling

Strawberry Milkshake wrote: »

If it had been a bomb or airstrike, would the larger of the explosions happened at the same time as the fire?

If there was a strike you get the initial explosion but if there is fuel and chemicals/munitions, that catch fire you would certainly get a secondary explosion ,

I think if you look closely at the first video you can see mini explosions before the big explosion happens

Gatling

Gatling wrote: »

If there was a strike you get the initial explosion but if there is fuel and chemicals/munitions, that catch fire you would certainly get a secondary explosion ,

I think if you look closely at the first video you can see mini explosions before the big explosion happens

Yeah the little flashes going off within the smoke cloud.

ronivek

Can't say I understand the logic of an ammo or fireworks depot being located so close to large residential areas; assuming that is indeed what it was.

I wonder if there are any places in Ireland where that scale of an explosion would be possible next to residential areas?

Overheal

dere34 wrote: »

It was heard in Nicosia. This is very bad folks.

150 miles jaysis.

When a MOAB is detonated the shockwave can be felt through the ground up to 60 miles away (at least). Heard, I don't know. Nicosia is over a lot of open water though so that soundwave front was largely unobstructed from coastal city to island nation of Cyprus.

Be interested to see what they estimated the equivalent yield of this blast was. MOAB is 11 tons TNT; Little Boy was 15 kilotons. I imagine it's far closer to the MOAB

Harry Palmr

ronivek wrote: »

Can't say I understand the logic of an ammo or fireworks depot being located so close to large residential areas; assuming that is indeed what it was.

I wonder if there are any places in Ireland where that scale of an explosion would be possible next to residential areas?

I imagine some ports have Ammonium nitrate stored

Cheerful Spring2

Gatling wrote: »

If there was a strike you get the initial explosion but if there is fuel and chemicals/munitions, that catch fire you would certainly get a secondary explosion ,

I think if you look closely at the first video you can see mini explosions before the big explosion happens

It was likely a weapon explosives storage/ facility. Highly unlikely you see an explosion like that from fireworks. Who the weapons belong to Lebanese army or Hezbelloh? Lebanese army, likely a freak accident.

tricky D

The big white building was a grain silo with a capacity of 120,000 tons of grain. That is a known explosion risk.

Dry-material / bin hazards
There have also been many cases of silos and the associated ducts and buildings exploding. If the air inside becomes laden with finely granulated particles, such as grain dust, a spark can trigger an explosion powerful enough to blow a concrete silo and adjacent buildings apart, usually setting the adjacent grain and building on fire. Sparks are often caused by (metal) rubbing against metal ducts; or due to static electricity produced by dust moving along the ducts when extra dry.

Signore Fancy Pants

Cheerful Spring2 wrote: »

It was likely a weapon explosives storage/ facility. Highly unlikely you see an explosion like that from fireworks. Who the weapons belong to Lebanese army or Hezbelloh? Lebanese army, likely a freak accident.

That area does store fireworks, also Beirut Naval Base is just around the corner...where weapons and ammunition is stored.