Huge explosion in Lebanon, 4th Aug 2020

[Idris2002]

Massive explosion in Beirut today:

<a href="">August 4, 2020</a></blockquote>

Not clear what's going on yet. . .

 

[platinumsage]

Another view of the explosion (the second tweet):

 

[teqniq]

Jeez, that's huge.

 

[Badgers]

Mad

Some media saying firework factory fire, other people on social media saying a missile from a jet. No reported deaths but would be very surprised if that was the case sadly.

 

[Pickman's model]

Jeez, that's huge.

yeh that's proper big

 

[teqniq]

Lots of people saying fireworks storage but right next to a grain storage facility which may possibly have contributed.

 

[mauvais]

It was already on fire or exploding before the main blast, hence the videos.

If you ever have the misfortune to see shit like this in real life, remember that light travels much faster than either sound or blast waves, and take fucking cover!

 

[sunnysidedown]

second film has what looks like fireworks going off.

 

[Orang Utan]

Another view here:

Fuck

 

[editor]

Lots of people saying fireworks storage but right next to a grain storage facility which may possibly have contributed.

It looks like a load of random fireworks explosions before the enormo-blast in one of the videos. It must have been terrifying to witness.

 

[Mrs Miggins]

Fuck that's big!

 

[teqniq]

.dp

 

[Mrs Miggins]

Is that water? The huge white mass that goes up?

 

[wiskey]

Fucking hell

 

[cupid_stunt]

If that's just down to a fireworks factory/warehouse, WTF are they putting in their fireworks?

 

[Orang Utan]

If that's just down to a fireworks factory/warehouse, WTF are they putting in their fireworks?

Perhaps the fireworks set something else off though there are apparently reports of a missile being witnessed hitting the area

 

[mauvais]

Is that water? The huge white mass that goes up?

Yeah - moisture in the air condensed by the shock wave, like you see with fast jets.

You think this is a sonic boom – but it’s not

Awe-inspiring photographs of fast jets surrounded by a split-second shockwave aren’t evidence of a plane breaking the sound barrier. Stephen Dowling looks at what causes them.

www.bbc.com

 

[wiskey]

second film has what looks like fireworks going off.

That bottom one does look like other firework/ammunition factory explosions I've seen videos of ... Unusual to have one in a city though.

 

[LDC]

My bet is some industrial/factory related thing looking at that, rather than a missile or bomb.

Someone will have geolocated the site by now if anyone can be arsed looking around OSINT websites.

 

[teqniq]

Mad

Some media saying firework factory fire, other people on social media saying a missile from a jet. No reported deaths but would be very surprised if that was the case sadly.

There's deaths. Seen footage from close to the blast. Bodies on the ground.

 

[wiskey]

Perhaps the fireworks set something else off though there are apparently reports of a missile being witnessed hitting the area

With the history Beirut has I wouldn't blame people for that being their first thought

 

[Mrs Miggins]

Yeah - moisture in the air condensed by the shock wave, like you see with fast jets.

View attachment 225012

You think this is a sonic boom – but it’s not

Awe-inspiring photographs of fast jets surrounded by a split-second shockwave aren’t evidence of a plane breaking the sound barrier. Stephen Dowling looks at what causes them.

www.bbc.com

Oh right. I thought it was water from the harbour.

 

[Orang Utan]

There’s gonna be many fatalities - a whole district seems to have been destroyed

 

[Detroit City]

My bet is some industrial/factory related thing looking at that, rather than a missile or bomb.

Someone will have geolocated the site by now if anyone can be arsed looking around OSINT websites.

maybe it was a meth lab??

 

[cupid_stunt]

Homes as far as 10 kilometers away were damaged, according to witnesses.

 

[mauvais]

That bottom one does look like other firework/ammunition factory explosions I've seen videos of ... Unusual to have one in a city though.

It's a port, not the first time this has happened. You might remember this:

2015 Tianjin explosions - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Spoiler: Image of Tianjin, not Lebanon

 

[teqniq]

Explosion was reportedly heard in Cyprus which is 200km away. Appeals for all blood types at hospitals.

 

[8ball]

If that's just down to a fireworks factory/warehouse, WTF are they putting in their fireworks?

Hell - that looks way beyond most military munitions to me - let alone fireworks!

 

[Plumdaff]

It looks absolutely horrendous, and coming at a time when the Lebanese were already suffering and it was already politically tense there. Just awful.

 

[agricola]

Hell - that looks way beyond most military munitions to me - let alone fireworks!

TBF that level of damage - and it looks absolutely horrific - looks a lot more like an industrial accident involving many tonnes of stuff going up. I doubt there are non-nuclear munitions that can cause that amount of damage, though I suppose its possible that someone might have turned a factory into a giant IED or something (though managerial incompetence has a much longer record of doing that).