An explosion occurred at the Port of Beirut in Lebanon in August 2020 caused by the ignition of a fire in a warehouse containing 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate that had been stored unsafely for over 6 years. The explosion was estimated to be equivalent to 1.1 kilotons of TNT, destroyed thousands of homes and displaced over 300,000 people. It occurred due to negligence and lack of proper regulation by the authorities despite warnings about the dangerous storage conditions. The hospital disaster plan was overwhelmed but volunteers and aid organizations helped with clean up and medical treatment in the aftermath.

1. h
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2. "ONEOF THELARGESTNON-NUCLEAR EXPLOSIONSINTHE
HISTORYOF MANKIND"
PORT OF BEIRUT IS AN IMPORTANT ELEMENT OF THE
LEBANESE ECONOMY.
AREA: 1.2Kmsqwith terminal for passengers, general cargo, agrain silo.
Thegeneral cargo area included 12warehouses & the grain silo contains 85%
of country grain.

3. On August 4, 2020 at 5:55pm local Beirut
time, afire erupted inone of the
warehouses which caused the warehouse
to ignite at 6:07pm causing the first
explosion.
Theexplosions estimated yield wasasmuch
as1
.
1KTof TNT
.
Itdestroyed 77,000 homes, wounded
thousands, displaced over 3,00,000
people and at least 80,000 children
were rendered homeless.

4. E
JAN 2014
MV RHOSUS arrives inBeirut'sport
FEB2014
Theammoniumnitrate is
unloaded and placed in
warehouse 12inBeirut's port.
JUNE2014
MV RHOSUS isabandoned by
its owners and left inBeirut's
port.
MID 2015
Concerns are raised about the
dangerous conditions of
ammoniumnitrate, but no
action is taken.
AUG 4,2020
A large fire breaks out in
Warehouse 12in Beirut's port
near the ammonium nitrate.
Same Day6:07pm
A massiveexplosion occurs in
Beirut's port, causing widespread
damage and destruction.

5. E
AUG 5,2020
Thecause of the explosion is
determined.
AUG 7,2020
Lebanese government
announces aninvestigation.
AUG 8,2020
Lebanese PM resigns due to
the public outrage over the
explosion.
AUG 9,2020
International aid begins to
arrive in Beirut.
AUG 1
1,2020
State of Emergency declared
in Beirut, with the armytaking
control of the city andsecuring
damaged areas.
AUG 12,2020
Lebanese government
announces it will implement a
series of reforms.

6. Exactly after 30 seconds, there
wasalarger explosion along
with afireball, and red and
orange fumesarising from the
warehouse.
A
Thefirst explosion occurred with
vigorous white and grey smoke
formation and incresingly rapid
sparks.

7. Thesecond explosion resulted
in aspherical blast wave which
wasinthe form of awhite
mushroomcloud arising from
the source.
Theblast supersonic pressure
and heat wave produced a140
metre wide crater
. Inaddition
to the large ground crater
, the
explosion created amassive
red-orange smoke plume
surrounded by awhite
mushroompressure cloud. The
produced pressure was
equivalent to a3.5 magnitude
earthquake.
G

8. Itwasaself terminating event.
Theblast AmmoniumNitrate released
toxic gases into the atmosphere that
posed to be areal threat to the
residents, especially when mixed with
sea humidity and dust particles emitted
from the demolished and collapsed
buildings.
N

9. MATERIAL MAN-POWER MANAGEMENT
MISCELLANEOUS MEASURES METHOD

10. Lack of proper inspection and
regulation: Theauthorities failed to
act on warnings about the danger
posed by the stored chemical.
Inadequate emergency
response planning: Theexplosion
occurred without proper evacuation
procedures or emergency response
teamsin place.
Compliance with regulations
and standards: Proper storage,
handling, and managementof
hazardous chemicals.
Poor storage of ammoniumnitrate:
Thechemical wasstored in apoorly
ventilated area, which increased the
riskof an explosion.

11. N
Itisessential to havestrict
regulations inplace for the
storage and handling of
hazardous chemicals.
Implementationof effective
emergency response plans in
case of accidents or incidents
Regular inspection and
monitoring of chemical
storage facility.
Educate the public and industry
professionals on the dangers of
hazardous chemicals, and to
provide training and resources to
help themprevent and respond to
chemical incidents.

12. “It was a perfectly preventable accident, had it not been for the negligence of the
government authorities”
There were no attempts to safeguard the Beirut port despite being informed about the improper storage of ammonium
nitrate.
Thehospital disaster plan wasput into place, but the influx of patients wasvery large.
Volunteers inLebanon helped clean up the rubble along with firefighters and the Red Cross treated injuries.
Theaftermath of this explosion turned into apolitical crisis focused on corruption and injustice.

13. Thankyou for listening