Beirut - Lebanon 04 August 2020; Explosion: An Engineering perspective.
For those trained in explosives or merely interested in explosives; you might find the following rather interesting.
Disclaimer:
- Please note that these are my personal observations and experience being relayed here (except for the actual video link which is based on fact).
- Therefor I do not portray myself as a master fire investigator; nor did I have the opportunity / benefit of physically visiting the scene after the actual incident.
- Thus, I do not have the intricate knowledge of actual conditions on the scene.
Background:
On 4 August 2020, a large amount of ammonium nitrate stored at the port of the city of Beirut, the capital of Lebanon, exploded, causing at least 207 deaths, 7,500 injuries, and US$ 15 billion in property damage, and leaving an estimated 300,000 people homeless.
Personal experience:
- I still believe (personal opinion) that the smaller explosions that can be heard and seen are not fireworks but actual detonators being detonated by the heat / fire.
- This opinion is formed from destroying millions of detonators for a major explosive manufacturer a few years back (contract fulfilled in South Africa).
- Means of destruction used - burning to detonation.
- The sound as well as the actual visual observations made during the aforementioned destruction operation, were virtually identical to what will be seen in the video link below.
- Fireworks - of which I have destroyed large as well as small amounts have a different sound and visual effect during deflagration.
- Due to no or absolutely horrid quality control measures employed in some countries during the manufacture and distribution / transportation of fireworks; I am of the opinion that these are extremely dangerous items to handle and store in bulk (personal opinion and actual experience).
- My personal experience was as follow - friction during carrying boxes of confiscated fireworks, caused a box of fireworks to start deflagrating spontaneously.
- Could the actual fire have been started by some sort of friction / movement of firework boxes / containers initiating the contents (usually a chemical compound of sorts with black powder / gunpowder as part of said compound)?
- I would rather not speculate on that point as fire investigation is not my field of expertise.
Acknowledgement & Video Link:
Please follow link supplied for the engineering perspective.
Out of dozens of theories and hypothesis I have read and seen; this one by far makes the most sense and is the most plausible in my humble opinion.
This Company and its engineers did a brilliant job of moving back through the timeline and virtually reconstructing the actual incident - hats off to them!