Nearly 3,000 tonnes of ammonium nitrate - taken from a ship off the coast of Beirut six years ago and then stored in a warehouse - has been blamed for the explosion that ripped through the port ...

But according to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), "contamination of ammonium nitrate is generally expected to increase the likelihood of an explosion if that ammonium nitrate is subject to a ...

Why was the explosion so massive? "The plant uses ammonium nitrate in fertilizer production, the same chemical used in 1995's Oklahoma City Bombing," says Siobhan Morris at Newstalk 1010.

The lawn and garden fertilizer plant is home to more than 300 tons of ammonium nitrate, and officials feared a potential explosion. According to local media, the fire started Monday night.

Tuesday’s explosion was likely caused by the detonation of more than 2,700 tons of ammonium nitrate that had been stored at the dock since 2014, according to Lebanese Interior Minister Mohammed ...

While the cause of the explosion was not immediately known, local media citing the country’s authorities said that ammonium nitrate stored in the port may have triggered the blast. The explosion ...

The ammonium nitrate had reportedly been unloaded from a ship impounded at the port in 2013, and then stored in a warehouse there. The explosion comes at a sensitive time for Lebanon, with an ...

Ammonium nitrate is not explosive unless exposed to high temperatures and mixed with organic substances. International Transport Workers' Federation coordinator Ian Bray said a deadly explosion at ...