Big Boom By Beirut

"For Sweden" (rallybeetle)
08/04/2020 at 12:24 • Filed to: Boom, Lebanon, Explosion, beirut

This appears to be a bulk container ship and/or warehouse full of fireworks going boom.

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It also seems to have ignited a nearby grain elevator

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DISCUSSION (46)

Darkbrador > For Sweden
08/04/2020 at 12:27

Where was Carlos Goshn at that time ?

Tripper > For Sweden
08/04/2020 at 12:28

D A Y U M that was serious

dtg11 - is probably on an adventure with Clifford > For Sweden
08/04/2020 at 12:31

That shockwave is insane. Really shows the power of the blast. Hopefully not too many fatalities.

BaconSandwich is tasty. > For Sweden
08/04/2020 at 12:33

That’s absolutely insane.

I suspect something a bit more powerful than just fireworks.

Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire > Darkbrador
08/04/2020 at 12:33

Kinja'd!!!

user314 > For Sweden
08/04/2020 at 12:34

Kinja'd!!!

facw > For Sweden
08/04/2020 at 12:34

Kinja'd!!!

Anyway I like that building in the foreground to the left of the smoke cloud in the first pic.

WasGTIthenGTOthenNOVAnowbacktoGTI > For Sweden
08/04/2020 at 12:35

Good lord, that was huge.

ClassicDatsunDebate > For Sweden
08/04/2020 at 12:37

Were all those fireworks being stored for the “Mission Accomplished” celebrations?

MonkeePuzzle > For Sweden
08/04/2020 at 12:38

yikes! it started off with smoke and fireworks and was all very feb-july 2020. but it REALLY got alarmingly Aug-Dec 2020 in the final moment there!

Nibby > WasGTIthenGTOthenNOVAnowbacktoGTI
08/04/2020 at 12:39

twss

someassemblyrequired > BaconSandwich is tasty.
08/04/2020 at 12:41

Propane tanks can make some serious booms

Just Jeepin' > someassemblyrequired
08/04/2020 at 12:43

Grain too.

boredalways > For Sweden
08/04/2020 at 12:44

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PatBateman > For Sweden
08/04/2020 at 13:01

That’s something that we trained on when I was a firefighter. So many people have died because they see an incident like this and not realize the danger that exists. Ammonium Nitrate (see “Texas City Disaster”), random explosives... those are dangerous, but that grain elevator, depending on what’s in it, might have been the big explosion.

It looked like an ammonium nitrate explosion, though.

ttyymmnn > user314
08/04/2020 at 13:02

Big bada boom.

One of my favorite movies.

ttyymmnn > For Sweden
08/04/2020 at 13:04

Still doesn’t beat Tianjin 2015.

Derpwagon > ClassicDatsunDebate
08/04/2020 at 13:10

What are you on about?

Derpwagon > For Sweden
08/04/2020 at 13:14

Grain dust/flour dust is explosive AF. Minneapolis had its own grain explosion in 1878.

BaconSandwich is tasty. > someassemblyrequired
08/04/2020 at 13:14

That’d have to be one heck of a propane tank to do that. I’m thinking more one of those huge liquefied natural gas tanks - like the big round ones.

Chan - Mid-engine with cabin fever > ttyymmnn
08/04/2020 at 13:15

Seems like it’s on a similar scale to me. This was one for the ages. Like Tianjin, t he death toll is going to be ugly.

Dusty Ventures > For Sweden
08/04/2020 at 13:24

One more angle. The way you can see it just tearing buildings apart is terrifying

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Nom De Plume > For Sweden
08/04/2020 at 13:42

NYT called, they want their reporting style back.

For Sweden > Nom De Plume
08/04/2020 at 13:49

This comparison is hurtful

My bird IS the word > For Sweden
08/04/2020 at 13:50

Damn that is scary. Wonder what the comparable tonnage in TNT would be.

My bird IS the word > For Sweden
08/04/2020 at 13:57

Also, not to make light, but

“Wa s the city destroyed?”

Kinja'd!!!

someassemblyrequired > BaconSandwich is tasty.
08/04/2020 at 14:10

probably a huge mix of stuff - grain silos are surprisingly explody too

someassemblyrequired > Just Jeepin'
08/04/2020 at 14:11

yeah those grain silos definitely did not help matters

farscythe - makin da cawfee! > For Sweden
08/04/2020 at 14:16

goddamn......i wonder how many miles away they’ll find the cars that were just passing by

O.o

Nom De Plume > For Sweden
08/04/2020 at 14:51

T he melodramatic conversational barbs everyone trades here come off a bit strong from my hand at times.

ttyymmnn > Chan - Mid-engine with cabin fever
08/04/2020 at 15:23

The fireball in Tianjin was just unbelievable, though.

Chan - Mid-engine with cabin fever > ttyymmnn
08/04/2020 at 15:39

Yep, and a battalion of firemen suffered a similar fate. Went in for the initial fire, got blown up when the fires hit the bad stuff. RIP.

415s30 W123TSXWaggoIIIIIIo ( •_•))°) > For Sweden
08/04/2020 at 15:45

Tianjin still says hold my beer. The Chinese are still #1 for improper handling and st orage of anything.

415s30 W123TSXWaggoIIIIIIo ( •_•))°) > ttyymmnn
08/04/2020 at 15:46

Ha I just said Tianjin still says hold my beer. So true.

ttyymmnn > Chan - Mid-engine with cabin fever
08/04/2020 at 15:52

At the beginning of the second video, you can see all the emergency lights near the blaze, then they got vaporized. Similar thing happened to the damage control parties on USS Forrestal. They ran towards the fire to fight it, then the bombs cooked off and obliterated all the trained fire crews.

Dusty Ventures > ttyymmnn
08/04/2020 at 18:34

I’m honestly not sure. Tianjin had the bigger fireball, no doubt (though some of that is probably because of night vs day). But there’s a video I posted in another comment that just shows block after block of building getting torn apart by the Beirut explosion. Looks way more dramatic and devastating than any of the videos in the original post IMO.

boredalways > Dusty Ventures
08/04/2020 at 18:54

The 2nd twitter vid is frightening

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boredalways > Dusty Ventures
08/04/2020 at 19:00

From The Guardian feed:

There are reports that up to 2,700 tonnes of ammonium nitrate being stored at Beirut’s port may have exploded today.

Ammonium nitrate is used widely in both fertilisers and explosives.

This, from an Australian state government workplace health and safety website explains why it is so explosive :

Ammonium nitrate does not burn. However, it will support and increase the rate of combustion in the presence of flammable or combustible materials even in the absence of oxygen. When heated it will melt, decompose and release toxic gases including nitrogen oxides (NO x ) and ammonia gas (NH 3 ). When heated excessively (e.g. as in a fire) it can cause an explosion in an enclosed space and closed containers or vessels may rupture violently.

If so, it’s like OKC bombing multiplied by 10000 at least.

Irony of all ironies, it’s the 75th anniversary of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki

Dusty Ventures > boredalways
08/04/2020 at 19:26

Doing the math on how long it took for that shockwave to hit in the first video, that was about 5.7 miles away.

boredalways > Dusty Ventures
08/04/2020 at 19:48

Damn

Biggus Dickus (RevsBro) > boredalways
08/04/2020 at 20:05

Yeah and Fatman was this multiplied by about another 100. Im seeing estimates on this at about a 200t yield.

Biggus Dickus (RevsBro) > My bird IS the word
08/04/2020 at 20:08

Ive seen estimates at about 200t

gmporschenut also a fan of hondas > PatBateman
08/04/2020 at 20:20

During our senior projects one group was trying to make wind turbine blades by wire cutting foam and sanding them down, applying filler and more sanding. Everyone was pissed at them for taking over the 1/3 of the workshops. they worked all weekend, completly covering the bay with 1" of dust. Monday the professor walks in to check on progress and flips his shit. then had to watch 2 hours of osha dust dangers and cleanup videos. we hated the group before, we de spised them after.

gmporschenut also a fan of hondas > Dusty Ventures
08/04/2020 at 20:30

thats insane

PatBateman > gmporschenut also a fan of hondas
08/04/2020 at 20:57

No one thinks about the itty bitty flammable dust floating around with PLENTY of oxygen to facilitate a mass combustion event.

RacinBob > For Sweden
08/04/2020 at 21:23

Good Background

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