INSANE

Security Upgrade at Beirut Warehouse Full of Ammonium Nitrate May Have Precipitated Blast: Document

The warehouse holding explosive material was made impenetrable—and it kept firefighters out.

Just days before a stockpile of 2,750 tons of highly explosive ammonium nitrate blew up, leveling much of Beirut, work was undertaken to secure the dilapidated warehouse in which it was stored. A broken door and a gaping hole in the warehouse’s southern wall were fixed and workers were told to ensure that all doors were tightly locked, according to documents obtained by The Washington Post. The authorities were concerned the material could be stolen, however, and their efforts to seal off the warehouse may have precipitated the disaster—firefighters were rendered unable to get into the warehouse to tackle a preliminary blaze of kerosene, gas oil, and 25 tons of fireworks stored alongside the ammonium nitrate in the same warehouse in the minutes before the ammonium nitrate itself combusted. Lebanon is due to get a new prime minister on Monday, Mustapha Adib, who replaces Hassan Diab, who resigned on Aug. 10 following the explosion.