On August 4th an earth-shattering explosion happened in the city of Beirut. At first, all people knew was the source was something inside a warehouse that was alongside the port. The blast radius left not only residential buildings damaged, but it left an enormous crater where the building once stood. Over 200 people lost their lives that day, with many more injured or rendered homeless. To say it was a national tragedy for the beautiful Mediterranian city is an understatement.
In the days that followed the explosion, the world would learn of gross negligence on a massive scale. Housed within Warehouse 12 were fireworks, old tires, and over 2,000 tons of ammonium nitrate — all materials were improperly stored and the ammonium nitrate had become contaminated by the elements. All it took was one spark for the whole thing to go… seismologists at the USGS said the explosion had the same earth-shaking power as a 3.3 magnitude earthquake.
An all-new video has been released by Forensic Architecture and it combines all photos and videos caught of the blast to tell the full story. While we will never know why 2,000 tons of ammonium nitrate was never properly stored, despite the Warehouse being sent a notice to clean it up, we now know the precise timeline of events. Watch the video below to see it all for yourself and let us know what you think in the comments. From all of us at Trill!: don’t forget to wash your hands, wear your mask, and enjoy the holidays safely.
Featured Image via Wikimedia Commons
