Rock The Kasbah

The port of Beirut suffered many casualties after a small explosion triggered another, more devastating one, leveling buildings and sending a shock wave through the city.

A massive explosion shook Beirut Tuesday, killing at least 50 people and injuring thousands of others while flattening much of the port, damaging buildings across the capital, and sending a mushroom cloud into the sky.

The cause of the explosion remains unclear. The Lebanese Red Cross tweeted that more than 30 teams were responding to the scene of the blast via ambulances.

Well, they think they know the cause, and it’s as idiotic as you’d expect.

Abbas Ibrahim, chief of Lebanese General Security, said the explosion might have been caused by highly explosive material that was confiscated from a ship some time ago and stored at the port. Local television channel LBC said the material was sodium nitrate.

Apparently, Beirut confiscated a shipload of ammonium nitrate – about 2,750 tons of it – and let it sit inside a warehouse… for twelve years! Well, there’s your boom. Dumbasses.

You can see a few angles of the explosion below…

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When Mrs. Earp showed this to me I thought it was an airstrike.