The devastating explosion in the Port of Beirut on August 4 seems, if possible, was made worse by the video images captured by ordinary citizens and fishermen from the city. A normal day, disrupted by a dockside fire, then a catastrophic detonation, complete with a view of the supersonic shockwave as it expanded across the city. As the political and social ramifications reverberate across the Lebanon, a country still not at peace with itself and suffering from the decades long civil war, the incident is a timely reminder that dangerous substances can be found in even the most innocuous places, and only good fortune and luck (and sometimes good legislation, effectively enforced) can prevent more of these tragedies occurring. The explosion in the Port of Beirut involved around 2,700 tonnes of ammonium nitrate that had been seized along with the ship, the Moldovan-flagged MV Rhosus, which was deemed unseaworthy by the port state control office and forbidden to sail in September 2013. The ship, which had been transporting the fertiliser to Mozambique from Georgia for use as an explosive, was abandoned after the owner went bankrupt and the cargo put into warehouse 12 in 2014. Despite several attempts to have the ammonium nitrate disposed of (it was recognised that there was a serious danger that the climate would have an effect on the materials), the ammonium nitrate was left in situ.
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