Imagine the over pressure wave sweeping by, How many will loose hearing for good. Lightning hit a tree next my van while camping, was deaf for a week.

How many dead are in that mess. It will be weeks to count it all.

This is actually quite common all around the world, here in The Netherlands an entire residential area was destroyed back in 2000, after a fireworks factory in the dead center of it exploded. Other european countries didn’t change their chemicals policy at all after that.

In the end it’s basic economics: Who is going to pay for moving the depot/factory out of town, when the industry has been at the same location for decades? In the Beirut case it has been there for only 6 years, but it was in an industrial zone in the harbor. The only safer way is reducing the quantity of inventory allowed, but if they just build several smaller factories/depots the risk will just increase, rather than decrease.

When something is “safe enough” is not an easy puzzle to solve

The problem is fireworks is made up of Black powder Sulfur and charcoal, Burns up and out, ( Unstable ) Factories burned down in the U.S. a few times. To store or manufacture a amount of high yield explosive as ammonium nitrate , Explodes , with an Unstable fire source is irresponsible.

Exactly Stupidity during a pandemic,Won`t be the last.

Warehouse storage: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EenCxH-XgAAnXcF?format=jpg&name=900x900
https://twitter.com/Intel_Sky/status/1290776919500378113

Warehouse: https://twitter.com/i/status/1290680306513645571

The heat set it off. OMG. One of the largest man made non-nuclear explosions in years. The White flash shows it.

Not the first time Ammonium Nitrate caused explosions and killed innocent people. It has happened before going as far back as 104 years ago. Time to outlaw Ammonium Nitrate https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ammonium_nitrate_disasters

A really asinine bunch.

What are they doing? Ignorant folks!

Like these morons here:

Not gonna buff out.

Latest report I've seen says 100 dead, 100 missing, and around 4,000 injured.
That number seems pretty low, but hopefully it doesn't grow too much.

The grain silos appear to have shielded part of the city from the direct blast and reflected some of the shockwave energy up and out to sea.

Use this to download it

https://www.y2mate.com/en52

Thousands die in cars every year, time to outlaw cars.

Good to hear at least a sliver of good news in this disaster.

According to the local governor, there are a quarter of a million people homeless.

I’ll definitely visit Beirut again after this whole covid thing is gone. Fantastic city and people, and the club scene at night is among the best in the world. They can use all the financial help they can get.

But at the cost of 85% of the grain, in a country perpetually short of grain. And now the port through which grain is normally imported is shut down.

Deadly Beirut blast wiped out 85% of grain silos

Grain is merely material items, it can be repurchased. Silos can be rebuilt. The lives it might have saved, not so much.