The huge explosion at the port of Beirut created a crater 43 meters deep, a Lebanese security source said on Sunday, citing assessments made by French pyrotechnics experts dispatched to the field.
The explosion on Tuesday left more than 150 dead and 6,000 injured, while dozens of people are still missing. It was caused by the explosion of a warehouse where, according to Lebanese Prime Minister Hassan Diab, 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate had been stored for six years without precautionary measures.
The explosion "left a crater 43 meters deep," according to the security source.
France is providing logistical support to Lebanon with investigative means and has dispatched police and search teams. Paris has sent medical aid to help the Lebanese in a city where entire neighborhoods have been devastated.
The Virginia-based American Institute of Geophysics (USGS) said its sensors recorded the explosion as an earthquake of 3.3 on the Richter scale.
By way of comparison, the explosion in 1962 of an atomic bomb of 104 kilotons on the nuclear test site of "Sedan" in Nevada (western United States), had dug a crater nearly 100 meters deep. .
The spectacular attack that killed former Prime Minister Rafic Hariri in 2005, carried out with a van loaded with explosives, left a crater at least ten meters in diameter and two meters deep, according to the Tribunal's website special international (TSL).
On Saturday, thousands of protesters angry at the ruling class accused of corruption, incompetence and neglect after the explosion, briefly stormed government departments and marched through downtown Beirut to cry vengeance. They held up makeshift gallows symbolizing rage against the rulers.
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A Beirut judge has ordered the detention of the Lebanese customs director and a director of the capital's port after the double blast that ravaged the port on Tuesday evening, the Lebanese national news agency reported on Friday.
Customs chief Badri Daher, his predecessor Chafik Merhi, and the chairman of the port's board of directors, Hassan Kuraitim, will be held in detention during the investigation.
Dozens of people have already been arrested. Sixteen people were detained on Thursday.
The military prosecutor said 18 people had been questioned so far.
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The European Union announced Thursday that it had released 33 million euros to finance first emergency aid for Lebanon and mobilized material resources, including an Italian hospital ship, to help relief efforts in Beirut, devastated Tuesday by two explosions.
A donor conference is also planned to mobilize additional funding for reconstruction after a needs assessment, said a European source.
The release of the 33 million should make it possible to cover the immediate needs of the emergency services and hospitals in the capital, said the European Commission.
Commission President Ursula von der Leyen held talks with Lebanese Prime Minister Hassan Diab on Thursday to discuss European Union assistance.
European countries quickly mobilized. Italy has provided a military vessel with helicopter medical evacuation capability and medical equipment. They also mobilized 250 firefighters specializing in search and rescue, we learned from a European source.
]]>At least 16 officials from the Port of Beirut and customs authorities have been taken into custody as part of the investigation into the deadly and devastating explosion on Tuesday of a warehouse containing tons of ammonium nitrate, the prosecutor said on Thursday. military.
]]>Steph Deschamps / August 7, 2020
At least 16 officials from the Port of Beirut and customs authorities have been taken into custody as part of the investigation into the deadly and devastating explosion on Tuesday of a warehouse containing tons of ammonium nitrate, the prosecutor said on Thursday. military.
They are "responsible for the board of directors of the port of Beirut and the customs administration, and those responsible for maintenance work and (workers) who carried out work in hangar number 12", where were stored tons of ammonium nitrate, said military prosecutor Fadi Akiki in a statement.
Sixteen people are being held in connection with the investigation, "the statement said, without specifying the date of their arrest, their identity or the charges against them. They were arrested Wednesday or Thursday, according to a source familiar with the matter.
The explosion in the port of Beirut on Tuesday left more than 130 dead and 5,000 injured, and devastated entire neighborhoods. According to the authorities, it originated from 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate stored for six years in a warehouse "without precautionary measures", according to Prime Minister Hassan Diab.
Lebanese authorities say the warehouse exploded after a fire. Port authorities, customs services and some security services were all aware of hazardous chemicals being stored there but they blamed each other.
In June 2019, state security launched an investigation into the cargo, after repeated complaints of foul odors emanating from the hangar. She had reported that the warehouse contained "hazardous materials that must be moved" and indicated that the warehouse walls were cracked and recommended that it be repaired.
The port management, which was aware of the dangerous nature of the products, finally sent workers a few days ago to patch up the cracks in the warehouse. This work, according to security sources, was at the origin of the tragedy, according to the authorities.
Meanwhile, an official familiar with the matter assured AFP that the Central Bank of Lebanon had ordered a freeze on the assets of seven port and customs officials, including the director of customs, Badri Daher.
He speaks on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject.
A banking source confirmed that commercial banks had received the circular from the Central Bank, which also decided to lift banking secrecy for all accounts these seven people or even their relatives.
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2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate stored in a warehouse would be responsible for the explosion in the port of Beirut. But what do we really know about this highly explosive substance?
NH4NO3, ammonium nitrate, also sometimes called "ammonia nitrate" by manufacturers, is basically a fertilizer. It was also used as an explosive, mixed with fuel oil.
This substance, in the form of a white powder, is not initially flammable but can react at high temperatures (above 250 ° C).
The perpetrators of the Oklahoma City attack, which killed 168 people, and the Oslo bombing in 2011 both used this oxidizer.
An incident had already killed 561 people in 1921 at the BASF plant in Oppau, Germany. In Toulouse, on September 21, 2001, 31 people lost their lives in the explosion of the AZF factory, caused by 300 tons of ammonium nitrate
]]>A few hours after the violent explosions that hit Beirut, the capital of Lebanon, the first testimonies from locals reach us. Nelia who was jogging with a friend tells how she experienced the tragedy: "We heard a small explosion and we saw smoke but we did not understand that it was so serious. Then, I saw that great wave of white smoke like it was a nuclear explosion. And at that point, I thought it was the end.
A sentiment most certainly shared by the many patients at Saint George's Hospital, located a few miles from the site of the explosion, as you can see on the map. When he arrived at his place of work, Doctor Jean-François Jabbour could only observe the monumental scale of the damage: "When I returned to hospital, I discovered it totally destroyed inside. floors and ceilings had all collapsed. There was debris everywhere. There were no more windows or doors. Electricity was cut on all floors. There were so many injuries and many were confused and in urgently need medical help. «
Medical help difficult or even impossible to provide as all the hospital staff are totally overwhelmed given the seriousness of the events: "Many people had to be intubated and others who were bleeding profusely required rapid medical help", says Dr Jabbour. . "So, as soon as reinforcements arrived, we decided to look at every floor of the hospital. We found patients in their beds, bleeding with family members on the ground near them and them. patients unable to move. All patients had to be evacuated wearing them. «
A horror scene, among others experienced yesterday by Beirut and its inhabitants.
Credit : Sudinfo
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