dpullum Loc: Tampa Florida

"On April 16, 1947, one of the largest industrial explosions ever killed an estimated 576 people in Texas City, about 40 miles south of Houston.

Recently uncovered video from the incident shows that smoke and flames that raged in Texas City after the deadly blasts.

A cargo ship called the Grandcamp, which had previously been docked in Houston, was docked in Texas City. While there, it was being loaded with ammonium nitrate fertilizer, an extremely flammable substance."

If you google Ammonium Nitrate Explosions there is a long list of them.

lowkick Loc: Connecticut

This one wasn't an industrial accident. Beirut was a terrorist munitions stash accident!

Soul Dr. Loc: Beautiful Shenandoah Valley

I don't think so.
Actually this ammonium nitrate came from a Russian freighter that sat abandoned at the port there for over a year.
2,750 tons of it had been improperly stored in a warehouse since 2014.

will

ken_stern Loc: Yorba Linda, Ca

srt101fan

Information source please...

lowkick Loc: Connecticut

srt101fan

Thank you for the link. Unfortunately I couldn't read the article because it had a subscription ad on top of it that I couldn't get rid of!

dpullum Loc: Tampa Florida

The link had lots of pop-up ads but X them out and it is quite readable.
"When Nasrallah threatened Haifa in 2016, he said it “would be exactly like a nuclear bomb... any rocket that might hit these tanks is capable of creating an effect similar to a nuclear bomb.” Shortly after the explosion, Twitter users speculated that it could have been one such rocket that caused the explosion.
Though this was quickly ruled out, Beirut was devastated. "

"Britain said on Wednesday that it was too early to speculate on the cause of a massive blast that ripped through Beirut killing at least 100 people.
President Donald Trump on Tuesday cast the explosion as a possible attack, though Lebanese leaders said that it was likely caused by highly explosive material that had been stored at warehouses in the capital for years."

"When asked by a reporter if he was confident that it was an attack, Trump said: ``I met with some of our great generals and they just seem to feel that it was.'' Tho unfounded it could be an excuse for war? Perhaps, wars are politically useful.
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international/world-news/massive-explosion-shakes-lebanons-capital-beirut/articleshow/77356143.cms

Read more at:
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international/world-news/massive-explosion-shakes-lebanons-capital-beirut/articleshow/77356143.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst
https://www.haaretz.com/middle-east-news/u-k-rebukes-trump-too-early-to-speculate-on-cause-of-massive-blast-in-beirut-1.9047949

The fact that there was a fire, probably in the fireworks factory suggests that a $2 rocket was the cause of the major blast. A $2 rocket is not a ICBM, a watchman smoking, a rat/mouse biting on something to cause a spark in unstable fireworks; it does not take much!
"Fireworks and ammonium nitrate appear to have been the fuel that ignited a massive explosion that rocked the Lebanese capital of Beirut, experts and videos of the blast suggest.

The scale of the damage — from the epicenter of the explosion at the port of Beirut to the windows blown out kilometers (miles) away — resembles other blasts involving the chemical compound commonly used as an agricultural fertilizer.

But the compound itself typically doesn’t detonate on its own and requires another ignition source. That likely came from a fire that engulfed what initially appeared to be fireworks that were stored at the port. "
https://apnews.com/cbeb3263d6fc30a63a0300f588e7207b

Fireworks are made to explode, that is why you buy them. "The number of dead from a massive explosion at a fireworks factory in north eastern China has risen to at least 19 workers, with five still missing, according to the official Xinhua News Agency.
Up to 50 people were working at the factory in the city of Yichun in Heilongjiang province when it was rocked by the explosion on Monday morning. It damaged nearby buildings and caused secondary blasts, according to a statement posted on the local government's website. A total of 153 people were injured by the explosion. " August 2010
https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-asia-pacific-10995938/fatal-blast-at-china-fireworks-factory

P-J Loc: UK

The ship originally from the Black Sea was bound for Mozambique. The cargo was for an explosives manufacturer there. The owner a Russian, lives in Cyprus.
Source BBC news on UK tv

Mozambique is hardly a stable country so why explosives? Mining? Hmmm, maybe.

Unless Lebanon stops being a haven for Mid East terrorists, the International community should withhold aid!

DAN Phillips Loc: Graysville, GA

Couldn't have happened to a better bunch of people!

Kmgw9v Loc: Miami, Florida

Why do you think that?

DAN Phillips Loc: Graysville, GA

Why not? Remember the marine barracks!

dpullum Loc: Tampa Florida

Dan, are you talking about those Texans in 1947, "576 people in Texas City?" Dan do you not realize your generalization of people in Beirut as all terrorists and should die is foolish far-right thinking that muddles the minds of many? Do you call it "a shithole" country?

When you reply, "Why not? Remember the marine barracks!" you seem limited in communication skills. You have no information or references where people may go to get the information. What about the marine barracks, did something perverse happen to you there, did someone die?

I do recall that our security screwed up and many were killed by a truck bomb...is that right? Yes, I looked it up and so here is what you should have given as a reference or another good source would have helped you communicate.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1983_Beirut_barracks_bombings

Kmgw9v Loc: Miami, Florida

1983 was 37 years ago. Those responsible have probably moved.

dpullum Loc: Tampa Florida

Yes, the planners are now perhaps in their 80s, if by chance still alive. The people in Beirut who sell vegetables, have a small business, have families, and are peaceful should not as Dan suggests are deserving of death. True, Lebanon had a civil war and many still continue to fly the losing flag as we do in the USA, but that does not mean all Yankees should die.

In the 1970s I worked in Hopewell Virginia and those people were still hostile to us Yankees; the civil war was not over. I grew up in Michigan and moved from my job in Charlotte NC to a new job in south of Richmond VA. I told people that I move 200miles south to Virginia... Physically Richmond was 200 miles North, mentally 200 miles and years south. Hopewellians were not the brightest bulbs in the chandelier. I knew when the KKK meetings were being held, I read the signs on the way to work!!