The secondary (and first, presumably) explosion in Beirut happened at the Beirut Port Silos, geolocation: 33.902226, 35.518766. google.com/maps/@33.90223…
There are reports of two explosion locations, one in downtown Beirut and one in the port, mentioned above. Here's a closer look at (one?) of the explosions at the port.
It's still unclear what caused the explosion, but this video clearly shows what magnitude it had.
Lebanese Army sources tell @sewella that it was *possibly* a burning container of fireworks, and the fire spread to a nitrate warehouse: . This is the crackling fire before the major explosion.
Follow @GebeilyM for more updates on the aftermath.
What do we know so far about the Beirut explosion? @N_Waters89 takes a look at the openly available evidence for @bellingcat. bellingcat.com/news/mena/2020…
Satellite imagery collected by @Maxar this morning over Beirut clearly shows the power of the explosion with a large crater visible at the primary blast location, extensive destruction throughout the area and a capsized passenger ship.
How could ammonium nitrate, a common fertilizer, have caused the major explosion in Beirut? If placed under stress of heat and pressure — and negligence — it acts like a bomb. Useful explainer here by @johnismay, with input from @BrianCastner and others. nytimes.com/2020/08/05/wor…
Between 30 to 40 nylon bags of fireworks were stored in the same warehouse as 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate, a former port worker and other sources have told @guardian. “We complained a lot about this over the years.“ theguardian.com/world/2020/aug…
The ammonium nitrate that blew up in Beirut was left by M/V RHOSUS, an ailing ship whose fate was unclear. Until now. @ckoettl found out that it sank in early 2018, and has been submerged a mere 1,500 feet away from the warehouse that exploded. Read/watch: nytimes.com/2020/08/07/wor…
A photo from 2014 shows the M/V RHOSUS with some of the 2,750 bags of ammonium nitrate in Beirut's port. These bags match the bags photographed later at the warehouse that eventually blew up, tweeted yesterday by @DimaSadek. nytimes.com/2020/08/07/wor…
Check out my colleague @ckoettl's thread on how he tracked and found the M/V RHOSUS, including this satellite image which was taken around the day the ship sank.
What a chilling photo. By @HassanAmmar5 for @AP.
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