On Tuesday the 4th of August, a colossal explosion devastated the Lebanese capital, Beirut, leaving at least 200 people dead and around 5,000 others injured. The explosion is known to be the largest non-nuclear blast in history. 

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On the day of the explosion, a large fire had broken out in the Port of Beirut. Later on, there was a large explosion in the warehouse which was followed by several smaller blasts. Some people likened the noise of the explosion to fireworks. Around 30 seconds later there was a huge explosion that expelled a large mushroom cloud outward, it was this second blast that devastated the city and its citizens. The blast ripped through buildings and has left hundreds of thousands of people without habitable homes. The explosion was so huge that it was heard 200km away in Cyprus. 

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The explosion is thought to have been caused by a large quantity of ammonium nitrate that was being stored in the Port’s warehouses. Ammonium nitrate is most commonly used as a fertiliser in agriculture; however, it can be combined with oils to create explosives.  The ammonium nitrate in the Port had been stored unsafely and was likely triggered to explode by the fire that had broken out in the warehouses.  

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This disaster could hardly have come at a worse time, with the world only just getting back on its feet after the coronavirus, such an awful tragedy hurts even more. So it is the least that we can do to keep our thoughts and prayers with the people of Lebanon and Beirut.