Blimey. Poor sods. https://twitter.com/SawtBeirut/status/1290671798787485696
"Lebanese media outlets reported that the blast occurred at a fireworks warehouse." https://www.haaretz.com/middle-east-news/massive-explosion-shakes-lebanese-capital-buildings-near-beirut-port-damaged-1.9046138
Beirut blast leaves over 100 dead, thousands wounded at Lebanese capital's port

***

https://www.haaretz.com/middle-east-news/massive-explosion-shakes-lebanese-capital-buildings-near-beirut-port-damaged-1.9046138
Possibly linked with Hezbollah. https://twitter.com/michaeldickson/status/1290717531389427722?s=20
But could be 2700 tons (!) of ammonium nitrate fertilizer left over from a 2013 shipping incident.

https://twitter.com/bbcnewsnight/status/1290768783959875589?s=21 https://twitter.com/BBCNewsnight/status/1290768783959875589
Cripes. Nearly 300k people made homeless by the blast.

https://twitter.com/bbcworld/status/1290954082484715520?s=21 https://twitter.com/bbcworld/status/1290954082484715520
This is a useful video. The country’s strategic grain reserve was also destroyed in the blast. It was in the large white building featured in the BBC piece linked above.

https://twitter.com/ajenglish/status/1290909982058315779?s=21 https://twitter.com/AJEnglish/status/1290909982058315779
Hmmm.

https://twitter.com/maajidnawaz/status/1290948514835574784?s=21 https://twitter.com/maajidnawaz/status/1290948514835574784
Another 'hmmm'. https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/hezbollah-stockpiled-chemical-behind-beirut-blast-in-london-637578
Hezbollah stockpiled chemical behind Beirut blast in London

The Beirut explosion took place at a warehouse that held 2.7 tons of ammonium nitrate that had been confiscated from a ship.

https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/hezbollah-stockpiled-chemical-behind-beirut-blast-in-london-637578
“This is a tragedy for Lebanon – but also a very dangerous moment.” https://spectator.us/much-worse-lebanon-beirut-explosion/
How much worse can things get for Lebanon? | Spectator USA

Just before Twitter started firing out messages about a ‘bomb’ in Beirut, our cleaner rang us in tears, shaking, telling…

https://spectator.us/much-worse-lebanon-beirut-explosion/
It appears from this drone footage on the BBC website that the port area has been more or less completely flattened. https://www.bbc.com/news/live/world-middle-east-53664184?ns_mchannel=social&ns_source=twitter&ns_campaign=bbc_live&ns_linkname=5f2ab6353f73b506635e14d7%26Aerial%20footage%20shows%20aftermath%20of%20Beirut%20blast%262020-08-05T13%3A40%3A06.984Z&ns_fee=0&pinned_post_locator=urn:asset:29d2bfd0-0938-448e-885e-69cc9426ebcb&pinned_post_asset_id=5f2ab6353f73b506635e14d7&pinned_post_type=share
Beirut explosion: Updates after blast kills at least 100 people - BBC News

The explosion on Tuesday damaged large areas of the city and injured thousands of people.

https://www.bbc.com/news/live/world-middle-east-53664184?ns_mchannel=social&ns_source=twitter&ns_campaign=bbc_live&ns_linkname=5f2ab6353f73b506635e14d7%26Aerial%20footage%20shows%20aftermath%20of%20Beirut%20blast%262020-08-05T13%3A40%3A06.984Z&ns_fee=0&pinned_post_locator=urn:asset:29d2bfd0-0938-448e-885e-69cc9426ebcb&pinned_post_asset_id=5f2ab6353f73b506635e14d7&pinned_post_type=share
Christ on a bike! Poor lass.

https://twitter.com/daviddpaxton/status/1291055575829229568?s=21 https://twitter.com/daviddpaxton/status/1291055575829229568
"A Russian newspaper that reported on the [2014 stranded-ship] situation carried a headline that reads especially eerily today: “Crew of the Rhosus cargo ship hostages aboard a floating bomb." https://www.nationalreview.com/the-morning-jolt/a-shattered-city/
A Shattered City

Thoughts on yesterday’s terrible explosion in Beirut, and what exactly is going on with the Biden campaign’s search for a VP, and the Kansas primary.

https://www.nationalreview.com/the-morning-jolt/a-shattered-city/
Fair play to Mr Macron for doing this. It’s astonishing that no Lebanese official has done so. What on earth are they thinking?

https://twitter.com/aleeharissi/status/1291322342564667397?s=21 https://twitter.com/aleeharissi/status/1291322342564667397
Tough day at the office for his security team.

https://twitter.com/sommervilletv/status/1291326073330900993?s=21 https://twitter.com/sommervilletv/status/1291326073330900993
Not sure about this bit, though.

What does "I'll take my political responsibility" mean in this context?

Sounds rather ominous. https://twitter.com/aleeharissi/status/1291327356343287808
This is a useful backgrounder on the ammonium nitrate stored at the port. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-53683082?xtor=AL-72-%5Bpartner%5D-%5Bbbc.news.twitter%5D-%5Bheadline%5D-%5Bnews%5D-%5Bbizdev%5D-%5Bisapi%5D&at_custom4=75F5F07E-D7F7-11EA-8542-D58F4744363C&at_custom1=%5Bpost+type%5D&at_custom2=twitter&at_campaign=64&at_custom3=%40BBCWorld&at_medium=custom7
How ship's deadly cargo ended up at Beirut port

More than 2,000 tons of ammonium nitrate arrived in 2013 on the Moldovan-flagged MV Rhosus.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-53683082?xtor=AL-72-%5Bpartner%5D-%5Bbbc.news.twitter%5D-%5Bheadline%5D-%5Bnews%5D-%5Bbizdev%5D-%5Bisapi%5D&at_custom4=75F5F07E-D7F7-11EA-8542-D58F4744363C&at_custom1=%5Bpost+type%5D&at_custom2=twitter&at_campaign=64&at_custom3=%40BBCWorld&at_medium=custom7
"Any unrest would almost certainly spread outwards from Beirut toward the neighboring Arab states, all of whom are suffering from their own pre-existing social and economic crises intensified by coronavirus." https://spectator.us/bread-heat-hope-life-lebanon-after-beirut-blast/
No bread, no heat, no hope: life in Lebanon after the Beirut blast | Spectator USA

As the clouds began to dissipate in Beirut, the speculation congealed around several narratives. Some blamed Israel or possibly even Donald Trump

https://spectator.us/bread-heat-hope-life-lebanon-after-beirut-blast/
The Beirut blast has got Aussies looking more closely at a facility in the east coast port city of Newcastle. On occasion, the facility stores more than four times the amount of ammonium nitrate as was in the Beirut warehouse when it exploded.
We seem to be in a somewhat better position in Canada. It can’t be brought into the country via the ports, and stored amounts can’t exceed 200 tones. https://ca.news.yahoo.com/storage-ammonium-nitrate-canada-tightly-080000820.html
Storage of ammonium nitrate in Canada so tightly regulated that a Beirut-like blast unlikely here

Lebanese officials have blamed a powerful explosion in Beirut on thousands of tonnes of ammonium nitrate, which had been stored and neglected at the capital's port. The blast flattened entire...

https://ca.news.yahoo.com/storage-ammonium-nitrate-canada-tightly-080000820.html
Anybody know what the ammonium nitrate situation is like in the US? Is it stored at the Port of Seattle, for example? I just googled for recent articles and came up empty-handed.
Interesting thread on the Beirut blast. Apparently, an Italian explosives experts thinks an ammunition stockpile was involved.

https://twitter.com/heshmatalavi/status/1292475515308310530?s=21 https://twitter.com/heshmatalavi/status/1292475515308310530
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