Explosions in Beirut, Oklahoma City attacks, AZF in France: what is ammonium nitrate, at the origin of all these human tragedies?

Sylvie Claire / August 6, 2020

 

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

      HTML Image as link                              

Related Posts

Explosions in Beirut: 16 port officials in detention
Explosions in Beirut: 16 port officials in detention
  Steph Deschamps / August 7, 2020   At least 16 officials from the Port of Beirut and customs authorities have been...
Read More
Jean-François, doctor at Saint George hospital hit in the explosions in Beirut: Everything was destroyed inside
Jean-François, doctor at Saint George hospital hit in the explosions in Beirut: Everything was destroyed inside
 Steph Deschamps / August 6, 2020 A few hours after the violent explosions that hit Beirut, the capital of Lebanon, ...
Read More
The explosion in Beirut created a crater 43 meters deep
The explosion in Beirut created a crater 43 meters deep
Steph Deschamps / August 10, 2020   The huge explosion at the port of Beirut created a crater 43 meters deep, a Leba...
Read More