https://phtq-canada.blogspot.com/2020/08/1918-same-world-same-tragedy.html
Beirut blast horror: Chemical explosion tears through Lebanese capital 'like a nuclear bomb' levelling buildings, killing dozens and wounding THOUSANDS - with boom heard as far away as Cyprus
- WARNING GRAPHIC CONTENT: The country's health minster said the blast has left more than 3,700 injured
- Dramatic footage shows smoke billowing from the port area shortly before an enormous fireball explodes
- Lebanon's interior minister said ammonium nitrate had been stored in warehouses at the port since 2014
- Witnesses have stressed the sheer enormity of the blast, which was heard 125 miles away in Cyprus
- It obliterated the immediate surrounding buildings, where firefighters were still battling flames this evening
A massive explosion in the Lebanese
capital of Beirut has killed at least 73 people, left thousands more
injured and wreaked devastation on the city.
The country's health minister said more than 3,700 have been wounded following the blast at the city's industrial port, where hazardous chemicals are stored in warehouses.
Dramatic footage from around 6pm local time yesterday shows smoke billowing from the harbour area shortly before an enormous fireball explodes into the sky and blankets the city in a thick mushroom cloud.
Witnesses have stressed the sheer enormity of the blast, which was heard 125 miles away in Cyprus, and likened it to a 'nuclear bomb'.
It obliterated the immediate surrounding buildings, where firefighters were still battling flames last night, and even inflicted damage on districts miles away from the blast site.
General Security chief Abbas Ibrahim said: 'It appears that there is a warehouse containing material that was confiscated years ago, and it appears that it was highly explosive material.'
Lebanon's interior minister said ammonium nitrate had been stored in the unit since 2014, with experts agreeing that the chemical would cause the red plume of smoke which burst up from the blast.
Local media are reporting that 2,700 tonnes of the chemical exploded, which scientists making initial calculations said was about three kilotonnes of TNT - roughly a fifth of the Little Boy atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima in the Second World War.
A 'strange smell' at the port has apparently led officials to instruct civilians to leave for fear of any harmful toxins.
Prime Minister Hassan Diab vowed in a televised address that 'those responsible for this catastrophe will pay the price,' and declared Wednesday a day of national mourning.
102 years ago
102 years ago, same world, same tragedy...
photos preserved it in black and white !
