Massive explosion shakes Lebanon's capital Beirut

[yota691]

Live: Massive explosion shakes Lebanon's capital Beirut
16,466 watching now•Started streaming 33 minutes ago

A massive explosion shook Lebanon's capital Beirut on Tuesday wounding a number people and causing widespread damage.

The afternoon blast shook several parts of the capital and thick smoke billowed from the city centre. Residents reported windows being blown out and a false ceilings dropping.

The explosion appeared to be centred around Beirut's port and caused wide scale destruction and shattered windows miles away.

An AP photographer near Beirut's port witnessed people wounded on the ground and widespread destruction in central Beirut.

Some local TV stations reported the blast was at Beirut's port inside an area where firecrackers were stored.

 

[yota691]

 

[yota691]

 

[yota691]

 

[yota691]

 

[yota691]

 

[keylime]

“Lebanon’s state news agency NNA and two security sources said the blast had occurred in the port area where there are warehouses housing explosives,” reports Reuters. “It was not immediately clear what caused the blast or what kind of explosives were in the warehouses.”

 

https://flashtrafficblog.epicentermedia.net/2020/08/04/breaking-two-massive-explosions-rock-beirut-mushroom-cloud-hundreds-wounded-cause-unknown/

Edited August 4, 2020 by keylime

[bkeiller]

Looked like more than fireworks in there! Hezbollah probably lost some of their terror toys.

[horsesoldier]

As a former high explosives 🧨 handler... that’s one helluva blast !

[Artitech]

48 minutes ago, horsesoldier said:

As a former high explosives 🧨 handler... that’s one helluva blast !

That looks like they hit a amory, of illegal weapons ! 🤠JMHO 

[Mammaw]

I was thinking of how it appeared to blow similar to a nuclear bomb test. I assume they checked for radiation.

I agree it looks like more than a fireworks explosion

 

[Rmc10]

Some friends of mine have been researching and we think it was a ship or a building that contained fertilizer (ammonium nitrate or sodium nitrate) that caught on fire and exploded after the fireworks explosion in another or same building. 

[jmartin1145]

If it was fireworks. I concede. I dont have enough money to even come close and I put on one hell of a display.

[gregp]

1 hour ago, Rmc10 said:

Some friends of mine have been researching and we think it was a ship or a building that contained fertilizer (ammonium nitrate or sodium nitrate) that caught on fire and exploded after the fireworks explosion in another or same building. 

It was  confiscated ammonium nitrate.  They said it’s been there for years. Why they stored it in the port near the city is ludicrous.   

[3n1]

1 hour ago, Rmc10 said:

Some friends of mine have been researching and we think it was a ship or a building that contained fertilizer (ammonium nitrate or sodium nitrate) that caught on fire and exploded after the fireworks explosion in another or same building. 

 

I might just agree with that but Im no explosion expert rmc10 , but did see the aftermath of the fertilizer explosion that Mcveigh used to implode the murrah federal building in oklahoma city in 95' and this is much larger but similar effects .....

[jmartin1145]

1983. I just hope you bastards got your payback. 

[DinarThug]

LINK

Lebanese Red Cross: More than 4 thousand injuries and the number of victims may reach one hundred

 

 

09:23 - 05/08/2020

The Secretary-General of the Lebanese Red Cross, George Kattana, announced that there are more than 4000 injuries as a result of the explosion in the Beirut port, some of them are dangerous and the number of victims may reach 100, and some victims are still under the rubble.

Kettana pointed out in a television interview that the Red Cross carried out 1500 cases of ambulance and transportation, in addition to transferring Corona's injuries from Al-Rum Hospital to other hospitals, as well as from Al-Jeitawi, all in coordination with the Ministry of Health. He added: "A large number of hospitals no longer have the capacity to receive victims." Noting that "there are 75 ambulances on the ground and 50 cars ready when needed."

He continued: "There are more than 300 blood units donated from all regions," according to what was reported by the Lebanese "bulletin". Shook an explosion Huge port of the Lebanese capital Beirut, earlier on Tuesday, causing deaths and injuries and great material losses. Powerful explosions were heard in the area, which reverberated in the capital and suburbs. Firefighting teams working to put out the fires rushed to the scene.

##################

Video .. From the site of the Beirut Port explosion and huge material damage    VIDEO

[DinarThug]

LINK

Iraq is the first to respond and sends a field hospital and oil to Beirut throughout the crisis


 

09:55 - 05/08/2020

Iraq plans, today, Wednesday, to deliver a field hospital and open a pipeline to transport oil to Beirut for the entire period of the Lebanon crisis after the huge explosion that shook Beirut Port yesterday. "The Lebanese National Media Agency" said in a news that was seen by "The Information", that Lebanon officially informs Qatar of sending two field hospitals today to Beirut, each with a capacity of 500 beds.  Iraq will also send a field hospital and quantities of oil throughout the crisis, and France has also announced that it will send aid that will arrive successively. 
 

Lebanese President Michel Aoun received a call from French President Emmanuel Macron, Iraqi President Barham Salih, and the Emir of the State of Qatar, Tamim bin Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, where they affirmed their solidarity with Lebanon after the disaster caused by the big explosion in Beirut, and laid down the capabilities of their countries to help Lebanon. 

A huge explosion in the port of Beirut; What caused 63 deaths and more than 3 thousand wounded (unlimited toll), as well as huge material damage in many neighborhoods of the capital and its environs, according to Minister of Health, Hamad Hassan.

[DinarThug]

LINK

The Prime Minister affirms that Iraq is ready to stand with the Lebanese people in its current predicament

 

 

22:32 - 04/08/2020

 

On Tuesday, Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kazemi expressed Iraq's solidarity  with brotherly Lebanon in its current predicament.

"We express the solidarity of the Iraqi government and people with the people and government of Lebanon, against the background of the explosion that occurred in the Lebanese capital, Beirut, today," Al-Kazemi saidin a statement, which he received / information.

The Prime Minister affirmed, "Iraq is ready to stand by the Lebanese people in its current ordeal, asking Mawla al-Qadeer to grant a speedy recovery to the traumatic accident, and to inspire the families of the victims with patience and solace, and that the Lebanese people be able to overcome the ordeal they suffered."

[DinarThug]

LINK

The Story Of The Ship That Caused The Beirut Catastrophe In Full

 

5th August, 2020

 

On September 23, 2013, a cargo ship sailed from the port of Batumi, the capital of the “Adjaria” district in Georgia on the Black Sea, with 2750 tons of “ammonium nitrate” on board to transport to a company in Mozambique, and on its way encountered a technical failure and is close to the territorial waters Lebanese, Rhosus flag hoisted Moldova, to fix it at the port of Beirut, and in it faced a problem greater than the holidays itself

In short, the authorities of the Beirut port searched it, and found the "nitrates" considered flammable and explosive, so it prevented them from continuing its journey, and prevented most of its crew from leaving, according to what "Al Arabiya.net" learned from its experience in the Shiparrested.Com website. In the ships, and it is also mentioned that the owners of the ship themselves, abandoned it and its cargo, and left it to cut through it like the discarded ship between them, to the point that its command no longer matters to them at all

Over time, the port authorities emptied its cargo, and transferred “ammonium” in 2014 to Amber 12 to keep it there, and since that time the dangerous load remained in that amber, until what happened yesterday, and it ignited and exploded as if it was the Hiroshima bomb, which falls on Thursday, 75 years have passed since Throwing her is a classmate in two cities in Japan, so if it had not been for "Rahhus" and her ominous load, he would not have rocked Beirut, one of the strangest and most violent explosions, and damaging lives and property

Upon the explosion, the ship was anchored in a place from the sea outside the port, and was monitored by the Marine Traffic detector via satellite, places where ships of all kinds exist in the seas and oceans, and it was found moored since mid-2014 and mentioned its position in latitude and longitude, according to the image shown by Al Arabiya "Net" about him above, and he explained in another section of the site that the ship that was manufactured in 1986 is for general cargo, and it was reported on other internet sites that its owner is a Russian national, residing in Cyprus

According to the site of the nearby ship docked from the Beirut port, the violent explosion may have destroyed and torn its structure, so it sank in the depths, especially since it is empty of any cargo, knowing that a Lebanese media figure, Salem Zahran, wrote yesterday a tweet in his “tweet” account in which he said that the ship I arrived in Beirut to transport two bulldozers to Zambia, and during the loading the port authorities found their cargo of nitrates, but he did not mention a source of what he said, nor did the ship appear in its archived news that it docked in Beirut to transport any goods

[DinarThug]

LINK

Central Bank of Lebanon: Lebanon's banks will reopen on Thursday

 

5th August, 2020

A statement of the Central Bank of Lebanon said on Wednesday that the banks of Lebanon will reopen their doors on Thursday and that the bank’s governor will meet with the bank’s board of directors to take steps to address the disaster caused by the explosion that hit the Lebanese capital Beirut.

##################

LINK

Beirut Governor: The damage caused by the port explosion ranges between 3 and 5 billion dollars

 

5th August, 2020

The governor of Beirut revealed today, Wednesday, preliminary estimates of the damage caused by the explosion of the Beirut port, which left thousands dead and wounded.

The governor of Beirut said that the size of the damages ranges between 3 and 5 billion dollars and possibly more, according to the Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation "LBCI".

The governor added, that 10 members of the Beirut Fire Brigade were lost, and that hundreds of Beirutis were left without housing.

#############

5 billion dollars loss in Beirut blast    LINK

[DinarThug]

LINK

Experts: The Beirut bombing is a turn for the terrorist "Hezbollah" and a message to Iran

5th August, 2020

Israeli experts have unanimously agreed that the massive double explosion at the port of the Lebanese capital, Beirut, will have repercussions on "Hezbollah", considering that it also represents a warning message to Iran, which is flooding Lebanon with weapons.

Despite the explosion, Israel maintained a state of alert at the borders with Syria and Lebanon. Israel did not reduce the presence of the forces and mechanisms that sent it to the Lebanese border two weeks ago in anticipation of attacks that Hezbollah has vowed to carry out, in response to the killing of one of its members in an air attack that he said targeted a site near the Syrian capital, Damascus.  On Tuesday, Israel rushed to deny any connection with the massive explosion that occurred in the port of Beirut, and has so far killed more than 100 people and injured thousands more. "It will upset everything." 

Limor, a military analyst for the Hebrew newspaper "Israel Hume," wrote, today, Wednesday, "Errors can occur, but a mistake of this size with thousands of wounded and severe damage cannot be committed by Israel, either publicly or secretly." He added: "In the first minutes after the event, some feared that Hezbollah might accuse Israel of avoiding blaming it, but the organization was quick to explain that Israel was not involved, and this clarification may have something to do with the fact that Hezbollah is not behind the explosion, or that it wants to block The evidence is against him." But in both cases, Israel and Hezbollah have not settled their accounts. The organization wants revenge for the killing of its militant two weeks ago in a raid on a weapons depot in Damascus attributed to Tel Aviv. He noted that "the Israeli army is closely following all the reports received from Beirut, and at the present time, it does not reduce the level of alert on the northern border."

However, the Israeli military analyst ruled out the possibility that Hezbollah would resort to a military escalation with Israel at this time. And he clarified the last part: "The Beirut explosion could turn everything around for Hezbollah. It happened at a time of great sensitivity and complexity for Lebanon: the country is in the midst of an unprecedented economic crisis, with unemployment increasing and about to bankruptcy, while blaming the party for thwarting economic reforms that It was a condition for help from the World Bank and European countries." He concluded that "along with the Corona virus pandemic, the Lebanese will show little tolerance for any escalation of security tensions that Hezbollah may cause through attempts to kill IDF soldiers."

In turn, Zvi Bariel, an analyst for the Israeli newspaper "Haaretz", considered that the echo of the Beirut port explosion would leave its effects on Hezbollah for a long time. Barriel wrote today, Wednesday, saying: "Serious damages may reopen the public debate about storing weapons in population centers with the closure of the port at a time when Lebanon needs every dollar." Barriel suggested that opponents of "Hizbullah demand the removal of weapons and ammunition stockpiles from populated areas." However, he also suggested that the organization would oppose "this demand, because it will expose it to Israel."  Bariel also considered that "the explosion transmits a shattering message to Iran, which is sending arms and ammunition to Lebanon." 

[DinarThug]

LINK

After the disaster of the Beirut port explosion, Lebanon is waiting for an economic "tsunami"

5th August, 2020

The US "Bloomberg" agency said on Wednesday that the huge explosion that shook the Lebanese capital, Beirut, on Tuesday, added a new ordeal to the country's economy, which is reeling due to the worst financial crisis in its history.

Bloomberg's warning comes as experts warn of an "economic tsunami" after the violent explosion on "Black Tuesday" at the port of Beirut. "The Beirut port damaged by the explosion is the largest in Lebanon, and through it Lebanon relies on importing its imports of food, medical supplies and other essential goods," Bloomberg added.  Bloomberg says: "She pointed out that the value of the lira has fallen by 80% against the dollar since August, which made imports expensive, prompting the central bank to withdraw from the reserves to support wheat, fuel and medicine, in addition to fuel shortages and bread shortages.

Foreign support

Bloomberg says: "After Lebanon defaulted on Eurobond bonds due in March, the country held talks with the International Monetary Fund to borrow $ 10 billion, but those talks stopped as Beirut sought to agree on the size of the financial system losses and implement the economic reforms required to obtain On money."  France, which hosted the donors’ conference in 2018 and ended with pledges of more than $ 11 billion in loans and grants to Lebanon, said that the IMF’s rescue plan is the only option for the country, although it has expressed its willingness to provide assistance after the explosion. 

Social disorders

She said, "Bloomberg" This disaster is the worst suffered by Lebanon during the decades, and the Lebanese people fed poor government management, according to the US agency, the explosion as a result of the amount of ammonium nitrate is equal to 1800 tons of "TNT / TNT" has been stored incorrectly". Shook a wave of protest across Lebanon in October / October against corruption, economic mismanagement and sectarian policies, despite the calm of those protests, prompted the economic crisis growing and the sharp rise in the prices of angry demonstrators took to the streets again in June. Hospital setting and facing hospitals in Beirut is already a crisis, and came The explosion was badly damaged, and some patients receive treatment in the "parking" of the car park. "Bloomberg" indicated that the intensive care units of public hospitals have limited capacity, and at times they closed air conditioners and delayed operations due to a lack of fuel.

[DinarThug]

LINK

Beirut announces that half of its area has become unfit for habitation


 

5th August, 2020
 

Marwan Abboud, the governor of the Lebanese capital, Beirut, said that nearly half of the area of Beirut has become uninhabitable. Abboud explained that the material damages are greater than we expected and may exceed five billion dollars, and that the engineers of the Municipality of Beirut are still conducting studies, and the survey work is continuing to determine the losses. He pointed out that the neighborhoods facing the sea were completely destroyed and the surrounding of the port exceeded the damage by fifty percent

The Governor of Beirut pointed out that the Lebanese capital has become a disaster city, and more than 300,000 people have been made homeless by the destruction of their homes, and the destruction has affected public and private institutions, companies, and all the neighboring buildings close to the place of the explosion in the Beirut port

A large number of hospitals surrounding Beirut have been damaged, and three of them, which are private hospitals, are completely out of service, according to what the head of the private hospitals told Al-Arabi Al-Jadeed, due to the great damage they caused and led to 6 deaths of the medical and nursing staff and the blackout

The massive explosion that occurred yesterday in the Beirut port resulted in complete destruction in the central building of the EDL, where the National Control Center is located, which completely went out of service, and as a result of that, the Ministry of Energy announced in a statement today that after the efforts of the Foundation's efforts, tremendous control was made in the network National transportation manually from Basalim station, to maintain the maximum level of nutrition to keep up with the rescue work

What do experts say about the health risks of ammonium nitrate for Beirut residents?

The blast also caused the explosion, according to the statement of the Ministry of Energy, to exit the main transfer station in Ashrafieh, Beirut, from service, and it is still up to now, in order to avoid any violations or danger to the public safety of citizens. Maintenance teams began work on surveying the damage in preparation for the start of necessary reforms in order to gradually return to the electrical current in the affected areas of the capital, Beirut

The explosion, which occurred in Amber No. 12 in the port that contains ammonium nitrate, weighs 2750 years, which has existed for 6 years. A large number of foreign Arab media companies, offices, and institutions, the majority of which are based in Beirut, at the level of Lebanon

In the context, the President of the Republic, Michel Aoun, decided to liberate the extraordinary accreditation stipulated in Article 85 of the Constitution and in the 2020 budget, which amounts to 100 billion Lebanese pounds and is allocated to exceptional and emergency circumstances

Video clips showed great damage to the port and the surrounding neighborhoods, as a result of the explosion, which damaged 15 kilometers, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Defense. Earlier Wednesday, the Lebanese Ministry of Defense vowed to punish those responsible for the negligence that led to the Beirut port explosion

Defense Minister Zeina Aker said, through her account on Twitter: "Six years have passed since this massive neglect ... Yes, the officials will be punished," without additional details

The Lebanese Prime Minister, Hassan Diab, declared a day of national mourning for the victims of the explosion, and the Lebanese Higher Defense Council considered Beirut a "disaster city", as part of a package of decisions and recommendations to face the repercussions of the accident. Diab asserted in a speech to him: "What happened will not pass without an account, and those responsible for this disaster will pay the price

The explosion comes just days before the judgment of the International Special Tribunal for Lebanon, on Friday, in the case of the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, in a massive bombing targeting his convoy, in central Beirut, on February 14, 2005. Tuesday's explosion adds to the pain of a country that has been suffering for months from the repercussions of a severe economic crisis and intense political polarization, in a scene in which regional and international parties overlap

It is expected that the Lebanese market will experience a shortage crisis in many of the main commodities in the local markets, during the coming period, with all stores and silos being damaged in Beirut Port, the largest in the country. After talking about the possibility of a wheat shortage crisis during the coming period, the Lebanese Ministry of Economy assured, on Wednesday, that sufficient quantities will be available for one month, but the fate of the rest of the other commodities remains unknown. The director general of the Ministry of Economy, Muhammad Abu Haidar, said in a television statement, that his country is not facing a flour crisis

Lebanon is suffering the worst economic period since the Civil War (1975-1990), accompanied by a tightening of the US dollar in the market, a drop in the exchange rate of the lira and a dramatic rise in the prices of products

##################

[DinarThug]

LINK

The Lebanese Cabinet places all those responsible for the port under house arrest

 

 

8/5/2020 16:53:12

 

 

The Lebanese cabinet decided, on Wednesday, to place all those responsible for the Beirut port under house arrest until the responsibility for the explosion that occurred was determined.
 

The council also decided to adopt all the recommendations submitted by the Supreme Defense Council meeting. For his part, the Lebanese Interior Minister stated that house arrest is a travel ban for anyone involved or linked to the file. He said, "If we can not account, let us go home."

On Tuesday, a massive explosion occurred near the center of Beirut, killing dozens and injuring thousands.  According to official statements, the explosion was caused by a shipment of ammonium nitrate estimated at 2750 tons, which has been present for 6 years in a warehouse without preventive measures.