The explosion of stored ammonium nitrate that devastated the port of Beirut earlier this year was widely photographed and recorded on video. This has helped a team of forensic architects to model the explosion and determine exactly how it started and why it was so destructive.
FA launched its probe with an invitation from the Egyptian independent online publication Mada Masr. The research group used publicly available images and videos of the blast, among other open-source materials and documents, to create a 3D model of the explosion and a timeline that reconstructs the events of August 4.
Through spatial and architectural analysis of the images and videos, FA was able to locate the sources of the smoke plumes, fires, and explosions at the port, and to map the interior of the warehouse where 2,750 bags of ammonium nitrate were haphazardly stored.
The analysis found indications for the presence of flammable materials like fireworks and car tires in close proximity to the cache of ammonium nitrate. According to the investigation, these materials likely helped detonate about half of the 2,700 tonnes of ammonium nitrate inside the warehouse. The analysis also found that many of the warehouse’s doors and windows were shut, creating hot temperature areas that brought the ammonium nitrate to its combustion point.
Gareth Collett, an explosives expert for the UN who consulted FA in its investigation, said that the arrangement of goods within the building was “the spatial layout of a makeshift bomb on the scale of a warehouse, awaiting detonation.”
I highly recommend watching the video linked in the article. It is extremely well done and one of the best examples I have seen of integrating 3D modelling and photographs and videos as well as summarizing all the other information that was made available to the Forensic Architecture team.
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