EDITS Deadly fertiliser threat

The culprit in Beirut explosion could well be the 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate that was stored in the port. This volatile product is used in fertilisers but is also often the favoured choice of terrorists because it is easy to access and explodes violently when it comes into contact with an open flame or any other ignition source. Otherwise stable in its pure form, its reaction when active is horrendous. The usual universal recommendation is not to store more than 900kgs of the chemical without special clearances. Ensuring its safety and keeping large amounts away from inhabited areas is mandated. In fact, on June 3, 2019 the US Congress directed the Ammonium Nitrate Security Program to “regulate the sale and transfer of ammonium nitrate by an ammonium nitrate facility ... to prevent the misappropriation or use of ammonium nitrate in an act of terrorism.”

In light of this there will definitely be an inquiry into why such a huge stock of this compound was left at the docks in such large quantity since 2014. Was it just plain neglect and oversight that triggered this tragedy or was it something the authorities knew but ignored. Even if indications are that it was a spontaneous detonation the possibility of an act of terror cannot as yet be ruled out. Ammonium nitrate has been used in the 1995 Oklahoma bombing by terrorists Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols killing 168 people. It was also used in the 2002 Bali nightclub blast that took 202 lives and the 2011 Oslo bombing that killed eight innocents.

This cataclysmic explosion will certainly waken the world to examining its own storage facilities for the nitrate and the safety parameters to be deployed to minimise risk. Could it literally be sitting on several dry powder kegs?