Shocking Images Capture the Devastation of the Beirut Explosion

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Yesterday a massive explosion rocked the city of Beirut, leaving hundreds dead and many thousands more injured. Video of the explosion went viral and speculation around the cause was abound. Reports of fireworks cashes igniting were tossed around. Some said maybe it was ammunitions and some people on Twitter even speculated whether it could have been a nuclear bomb, but the truth is, it was mismanagement and stupidity that caused the explosion.

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The explosive had previously belonged to Russian businessman Igor Grechushkin, but were impounded by the Lebanese Port Authority in 2014, and kept in very unsafe conditions. Lebanon's cabinet has placed all port authority officials under house arrest.

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This is a picture of the seized explosives being taken into Port Authority custody in 2014, where they sat for years, despite the pleading from local safety officials who warned of their danger being stored so callously.

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Warehouse 9 ignited 2,750 tons of the chemical - sparking an explosion with three kilotons of force, equivalent to a fifth the size of the Hiroshima nuclear blast. Here is a satellite image of the port before the explosion.

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And here it is after.

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