What caused the explosion
Brief History
August 4th 2020
A date that will not be forgotten by the Lebanese. An explosion at the port of Beirut brought an already crippled economy to its knees. Hundreds of deaths, thousands of injuries, and millions in damages. The people of Lebanon quickly came to each other's side, providing shelter, helping clean, supplying medical help, and trying to keep the morale high.
How it came to be
In the year 2013 a ship heading for Mozambique was forced to dock in Beirut due to technical problems. The vessel had been carrying 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate and was abandoned by its owners. The Lebanese authorities transferred the explosives to a warehouse in the port and were meant to dispose of them safely, but they never did. Unfortunatly this neglect by the authorities led to one of the largest non nuclear explosions the world has ever seen!
Series of events
On the evening of August 4, 2020 a fire started in a hanger at Beirut port that was said to be storing both fireworks and the ammonium nitrate confiscated from the vessel in 2013. Soon later, a small explosion occurs that sends a towering plume of smoke into the air; however, moments later a much larger second explosion takes place. A fireball rises, pulling air, water vapor and debris into the mushroom stem along with a massive shockwave that shatters windows kilometers away, damages buildings and vehicles, and is felt in Cyprus, 150 miles away. The end result was a large crater where the warehouse used to be and a city left in devestation.
