Awaiting disaster, ammonium nitrate was stored at Beirut port for years

Awaiting disaster, ammonium nitrate was stored at Beirut port for years:

For at least six years, hundreds of tonnes of ammonium nitrate, which Lebanese authorities say caused Tuesday’s massive blast, were negligently stored in a Beirut port warehouse, waiting for disaster to strike. The odourless crystalline substance commonly used as a fertiliser has caused numerous industrial explosions over the decades – including the massive one in Beirut that killed at least 113 people, wounded thousands and left 300,000 homeless. A security source said the explosive power of the stored ammonium nitrate was equivalent to at least 1,200 tonnes of TNT – explaining how the earthquake-strength blast destroyed or damaged so much of the city.

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