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Post by Dandelion on Aug 5, 2020 11:59:57 GMT
...do we have anybody here from Beirut? I hope not! Unbelievable! Accident or terrorist attack/assault? Reminds me of a documentary about the "Texas-City-Explosion" from 1947... Oh, yes Andi, sorry for choosing "Bild"; they simple seemed to have the best material together...
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Post by strigoil on Aug 5, 2020 12:10:31 GMT
2750 metric tons of ammonium nitrate fertilizer isn't a joke, as we can see.
It was being stored in a building, illegaly. I've heard the fire initially started from an attempted burglary but not sure as I have just woken up and have not updated myself fully yet.
No matter what caused it, it's terrible
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Post by RufusScorpius on Aug 5, 2020 12:26:03 GMT
I have a very good friend who lives in Beirut. I called her yesterday to see if she was safe. Fortunately, she was visiting her parents when the blast happened. Her apartment was slightly damaged, but her work place was completely destroyed. She has God's hand on her, for sure. Over the years she has managed to "just miss" many things including Hezbollah bombing attacks and Israeli artillery strikes.
Lebanon is a wonderful country full of very kind and friendly people. Unfortunately, they aren't the ones causing the problems. For the most part, Lebanon is a Christian nation, but they have a large Muslim population that is sympathetic to Hezbollah (although even they don't like them that much). And it's no secret that Hezbollah has no love for Israel. Hezbollah operates out of Lebanon and has their conflicts across the border with Israel, which leaves the Lebanese people always stuck in the middle of a conflict they didn't start and don't want any part of. The Lebanese are very tolerant, the Christians and Muslims get along just fine and help each other out, except for third party actors that cause the trouble.
As for the explosion, who knows for sure? It could have started as a regular industrial accident, but I have a feeling that there were also munitions stored there as well. In some of the videos you can clearly see smaller secondary explosions prior to the main blast. I've seen similar when I was in the military. The small arms munitions cook off before the larger explosives do.
What cause it is anybody's guess at this time. It could have been intentional, but with a blast that large, there won't be much evidence left to find, let alone any survivors that were close enough to know what happened.
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Post by nerdthenord on Aug 5, 2020 12:36:44 GMT
One of my relatives on my mother’s side is from Lebanon(some sort of uncle, don’t remember exactly), but he and his wife moved to Vancouver in the 80s. Anyway, it’s a horrible tragedy that happened.
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Post by Dandelion on Aug 5, 2020 13:45:18 GMT
One of my relatives on my mother’s side is from Lebanon(some sort of uncle, don’t remember exactly), but he and his wife moved to Vancouver in the 80s. Anyway, it’s a horrible tragedy that happened. For sure its tragic! But i have a "technical" question: what is that "steam blast ball" we can see just after the "initial" explosion?! Holger said it almost looks like the blast from a MOAB bomb (whatever THAT is...); anyone?
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Post by Sir Thorfinn on Aug 5, 2020 13:47:26 GMT
Yeah, somewhere, little Timmy is pissed his fireworks stash went up.
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Post by strigoil on Aug 5, 2020 13:52:57 GMT
what is that "steam blast ball" we can see just after the "initial" explosion?! Holger said it almost looks like the blast from a MOAB bomb (whatever THAT is...); anyone? Nothing so dramatic I'm afraid, it's a condensation cloud which happens especially in humid climates when there is an explosion.
The one we see from the explosion in Beirut is mighty impressive I must add.
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Post by nerdthenord on Aug 5, 2020 13:53:50 GMT
One of my relatives on my mother’s side is from Lebanon(some sort of uncle, don’t remember exactly), but he and his wife moved to Vancouver in the 80s. Anyway, it’s a horrible tragedy that happened. For sure its tragic! But i have a "technical" question: what is that "steam blast ball" we can see just after the "initial" explosion?! Holger said it almost looks like the blast from a MOAB bomb (whatever THAT is...); anyone? You are just seeing the physics of a big ass explosion. Particularly power explosions do that. They start as a big ball and then turn into a mushroom cloud. Also, a MOAB is an American fuel air bomb, designed to clear landing zones and the like. Not really meant for combat, but did work beautifully to simply exterminate a terrorist cave network in Afghanistan a few years ago.
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Post by RufusScorpius on Aug 5, 2020 13:55:34 GMT
The ball you see is the shock wave from the blast. It is literally displacing the atmosphere and as it collapses back, it creates the mushroom cloud. The wave propagates out from the center until the energy is dispersed. It all happens in a fraction of a second and it is what does the damage from an explosion. That is what crushed air looks like- you are seeing the outer shell of a bubble.
The Hollywood flames from movie explosions is just for visuals. Real explosions put out fires. After the "event", fires will reignite if there is a source with heat energy (usually the case).
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Post by Dandelion on Aug 5, 2020 13:57:05 GMT
Thanks to all for explaining he physics; its frightening! The videos give you no impression off how LOUD that must have been! And some of the videos seemed to be made from a quite close distance...
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Post by RufusScorpius on Aug 5, 2020 14:03:51 GMT
I have been uncomfortably close to big explosions when I was in the Army- close enough to feel my organs slam against bones. Generally, if you can hear the explosion, you have a good chance of surviving it. If you are inside the pressure bubble, your eardrums will rupture and you won't hear anything, but your chances of survival are in the "miraculous" category and are defined by random chance and fate (for example, just happening to bend over to pick up something you dropped behind a concrete barrier as the blast went off).
There is nothing pleasant about the ordeal. And don't forget that somebody has to give aid and rescue to the affected and clean up the bodies and bits.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 5, 2020 14:17:39 GMT
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Post by Dandelion on Aug 5, 2020 14:26:56 GMT
Gods... that ABC footage is even worse...
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Post by Lord Newport on Aug 5, 2020 14:31:21 GMT
The media amazes me...nothing like providing targeting data to morons...
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Post by RufusScorpius on Aug 5, 2020 14:59:53 GMT
That white building at 1:38 is where my friend worked. She was off that day visiting her parents.
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Post by RickDastardly on Aug 5, 2020 15:41:10 GMT
Yeah, nasty. I saw it last night. I guessed at the start it was an ammonium nitrate detonation. The red/brown cloud is typical of nitrogen dioxide, decomposed by the energy of the detonating AN. Most of the AN probably didn't detonate; just got blown away by the detonating bulk and decomposed. I've seen a small (1.5 tonne) ANFO explosion first hand.
Previous to that big bang, it does look like small munitions cooking off although it *could* be fireworks.
I very much doubt the big AN explosion was deliberate. That stuff doesn't detonate reliably unless prepared as ANFO or laced with another HE, and even then needs to be initiated with another detonation like a stick of dynamite or C4. You couldn't rely on a big pile of ordinary AN to explode at all. There have been other cases of AN detonations in large scale stores, but it's very rare. Still, if someone poured a few thousand litres of oil into it...
Regardless, it's devastating to Lebanon. They've reportedly lost 85% of the wheat reserves. The large buildings were grain silos.
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Post by paulmuaddib on Aug 5, 2020 16:35:51 GMT
That white building at 1:38 is where my friend worked. She was off that day visiting her parents. Wow. Glad your friend is ok. The vagaries of our choices.
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Post by Dandelion on Aug 5, 2020 16:42:31 GMT
Regardless, it's devastating to Lebanon. They've reportedly lost 85% of the wheat reserves. The large buildings were grain silos. Oh my... as if the poor country has not enough to deal with yet!
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Post by Deleted on Aug 5, 2020 16:52:55 GMT
Granaries and mills explode as well.
"The media amazes me...nothing like providing targeting data to morons... "
What amazes me is the concept that no one knows how widespread the possibilities are and that the issues are somehow a mystery.
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Post by Lord Newport on Aug 5, 2020 17:08:44 GMT
Granaries and mills explode as well. " The media amazes me...nothing like providing targeting data to morons... "What amazes me is the concept that no one knows how widespread the possibilities are and that the issues are somehow a mystery. That too...
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