Social media used to reconstruct tragic Beirut explosion

One of the most horrific elements of the devastating August 4 explosion in Beirut, which left more than 200 dead and more than 6,500 injured, is that it could have been easily avoided. Using videos of the event shared on social media, forensic scientists were able to piece together exactly what happened, including the shocking neglect that led to the tragedy.

Before everyone else was documenting the world around them using smartphones and social media, figuring out what sparked events like the Beirut explosion was a longer and more complicated process. Forensic scientists may have occasionally had video from a traffic or security camera that allowed them to replay and dissect events like this, but for the most part they had to rely on on a detailed analysis of the consequences, including debris and resulting damage and then combine it with in-depth knowledge of explosives to determine the exact cause.

Minutes after the August 4 explosion, those who recorded the initial warehouse fire and captured the subsequent explosion on their smartphones began sharing their videos on Twitter, Facebook and other social media platforms. It didn’t take long for people around the world to witness what had happened, and these videos eventually became a crucial tool for experts from a University of London research group, Forensic architecture, to reconstruct what caused the formidable explosion which had the same output as nearly 1.5 kilotons of TNT.

Their conclusions are shared in this 12 minute video which uses random videos captured from all over town to reconstruct everything from plumes of smoke that started rising from the warehouse to the explosion itself. Unfortunately, this only served to confirm what many suspected was happening here. Six years earlier, in October 2014, 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate (a high nitrogen fertilizer that also serves as an ingredient in explosives used for mining) had been unloaded at the Beirut docks and stored in a neighboring warehouse. Over the years, several reports have warned of the security risks of material stored there, including an alarming report from an expert in forensic chemistry in February 2015, which found that 70% of nearly of 3000 bags containing ammonium nitrate had been torn, with the crystalline material spilling out.

Reports and photos taken inside the building before the incident also revealed that although it contained thousands of tons of explosives, the warehouse was also used to store 23 tons of fireworks. , over 1000 rubber car tires and five detonating cord burn rollers. According to forensic scientists and engineering experts, the contents of the warehouse, including how and where the various materials were stored, essentially created a makeshift bomb waiting to explode.

As part of the investigation, the 3D models developed by Forensic Architecture, including the warehouse, clouds of smoke, the sphere of the initial explosion and parts of the city of Beirut detailing where several reference videos had been captured, were made available for download on GitHub. At this point, there is no doubt as to why the explosion in Beirut was as severe as it was, but this research will hopefully contribute to new guidelines on handling and safe storage of these types of materials, as well as new methods of accountability. Hopefully when red flags are raised in the future, there will be further action to prevent such incidents from happening again.