Big Boom

[cordex]

This was alleged to be video from the Beirut explosion.  I saw it yesterday on a different channel:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KiHna-KO_bY

It looks like it would have to have been taken either from the roof of the low building next to the silos.  At 10 seconds in the major explosion goes off and the camera swerves to the left showing some sort of crane or port equipment visible on the north side of the port.

I have no idea how the person taking the video (or the phone it was recorded on) survived.

[RoadKingLarry]

Did Trump really say it was a bomb?

The report I saw was that Trump said it looked like a bomb.

[WLJ]

I have no idea how the person taking the video (or the phone it was recorded on) survived.

Not unknown to find film/video recorded by a, now, dead person

[RocketMan]

The report I saw was that Trump said it looked like a bomb.

Some of Trump's military advisors thought it was a bomb.  Given the history of Lebanon, it's a logical assumption.

[RocketMan]

Not unknown to find film/video recorded by a, now, dead person

Except that this video was on the web very quickly after the explosions occurred.  It made me wonder if the person that took the video was just incredibly fortunate and survived the blast.

[cordex]

Except that this video was on the web very quickly after the explosions occurred.  It made me wonder if the person that took the video was just incredibly fortunate and survived the blast.

Right.  They would have been incredibly fortunate just to survive long enough to get their phone to safety.

If they had died in the blast I'd expect it to have taken longer than a few hours to get to them,recover their phone, and pull the video off.

[WLJ]

I would be buying a lottery ticket

[RocketMan]

Right.  They would have been incredibly fortunate just to survive long enough to get their phone to safety.

If they had died in the blast I'd expect it to have taken longer than a few hours to get to them,recover their phone, and pull the video off.

That person's story is bound to be interesting.  If they indeed were lucky enough to survive, I hope it comes out.

[WLJ]

Surviving being that close to a 1kt blast would indeed be a story

[MechAg94]

This was alleged to be video from the Beirut explosion.  I saw it yesterday on a different channel:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KiHna-KO_bY

It looks like it would have to have been taken either from the roof of the low building next to the silos.  At 10 seconds in the major explosion goes off and the camera swerves to the left showing some sort of crane or port equipment visible on the north side of the port.

I have no idea how the person taking the video (or the phone it was recorded on) survived.

Looking at the beginning of that, could a fire in a fireworks plant or storage area have led to the rest of it? 

The guy could have been live streaming. 

[230RN]

^ WLJ:

"Surviving being that close to a 1kt blast would indeed be a story."

Need they have actually been that close with a zoom lens?

[WLJ]

^ WLJ:

"Surviving being that close to a 1kt blast would indeed be a story."

Need they have actually been that close with a zoom lens?

It appears he/she was on the roof of the elevators looking down at the fire, it's the only building that high and close enough to do that from. So I would say close

[K Frame]

If they were on the roof of the elevators looking down, that means that they were standing on the portion of the elevator structure that was destroyed. I simply can't buy that someone was that close to the source of the explosion and survived.

Was it a person recording, or was it a rotatable camera being controlled by someone somewhere else?

[WLJ]

If they were on the roof of the elevators looking down, that means that they were standing on the portion of the elevator structure that was destroyed. I simply can't buy that someone was that close to the source of the explosion and survived.

Was it a person recording, or was it a rotatable camera being controlled by someone somewhere else?

I agree. MechAg94 did ask above if they could have been live streaming.
From the motion I would say someone was holding the camera

[230RN]

Speaking of time, can the distance be figured from the flash-boom timing involved?

[WLJ]

And to add to what I said above
And holding the camera/phone vertically which is another sign a person is holding a phone

[230RN]

Good point.  Never occurred to me since I never use my cell phone camera and my regular pocket camera is sort of "automatically" held in the hand with landscape orientation.

[cordex]

If they were on the roof of the elevators looking down, that means that they were standing on the portion of the elevator structure that was destroyed. I simply can't buy that someone was that close to the source of the explosion and survived.

That part of the building may have just barely survived the explosion and been covered with grain (or whatever was in the silos).  It is possible the silos didn't spill for long enough for him to escape ... maybe.

Also, a huge amount of the building damage was done by fire over the following hours.  So maybe the guy lived long enough to get away from there.

Or maybe MechAg94 was right and he was livestreaming his last seconds, although the fact that just before the video cuts out you can hear someone speaking is probably a good sign.

Was it a person recording, or was it a rotatable camera being controlled by someone somewhere else?

It was a person.  They walk around and at one point you can even see their shadow.

[WLJ]

‘Absolutely insane’: Heart-stopping footage shows Beirut bride’s dream become a nightmare at the moment of deadly explosion [video]
https://twitchy.com/sarahd-313035/2020/08/05/absolutely-insane-heart-stopping-footage-shows-beirut-brides-dream-become-a-nightmare-at-the-moment-of-deadly-explosion-video/

https://twitter.com/Reuters/status/1291037496919261185

[K Frame]

That part of the building may have just barely survived the explosion and been covered with grain (or whatever was in the silos).  It is possible the silos didn't spill for long enough for him to escape ... maybe.

Also, a huge amount of the building damage was done by fire over the following hours.  So maybe the guy lived long enough to get away from there.

Or maybe MechAg94 was right and he was livestreaming his last seconds, although the fact that just before the video cuts out you can hear someone speaking is probably a good sign.
It was a person.  They walk around and at one point you can even see their shadow.

I'm still finding it to be problematic as hell. The concussion from an explosion that big, even with partial shielding, should have been more than enough to either cause significant trauma even if it didn't cause immediate death.

A blast powerful enough to crumble reinforced silos like that?

Sorry, but I'm just not buying it. Maybe by some miracle, but until I see something proving it, I'm EXTREMELY dubious.

Oh, and regarding fire, the after pictures don't indicate much in the way of fire damage to the silos, nor do the before pictures indicate much in the way of fuel to be burned in the surrounding area. 

[K Frame]

Just saw an official announcement on TV...

Everyone who is confirmed dead in the explosion expired due to COVID-19.

[MillCreek]

I was interested to read the Wikipedia article on ammonium nitrate disasters.  Especially the part where ammonium nitrate congeals into a big lump, and the standard of care is to use explosives to break the big lump into little lumps. 

[K Frame]

Ammonium Nitrate is EXTREMELY hygroscopic. As in, if you're drinking a beer across the room from ammonium nitrate, it will drink your beer faster than you can.

In pelletized form it's normally coated with a barrier to cut down on its hygroscopic tendencies, but through handling and storage and time those coatings break down.

[AmbulanceDriver]

I was interested to read the Wikipedia article on ammonium nitrate disasters.  Especially the part where ammonium nitrate congeals into a big lump, and the standard of care is to use explosives to break the big lump into little lumps. 

Which works great, until it doesn't:

https://blogs.sciencemag.org/pipeline/archives/2017/03/03/how-not-to-do-it-breaking-up-ammonium-nitrate

[Brad Johnson]

I'm still finding it to be problematic as hell. The concussion from an explosion that big, even with partial shielding, should have been more than enough to either cause significant trauma even if it didn't cause immediate death.

Same here. The dynamic pressures necessary to destabilize steel-reinforced concrete are well beyond lethal limits for us Ugly Giant Bags of Mostly Water. If someone at that distance survived it would be a genuine one-in-a-million happenstance.

Brad