The massive fire that went on for a relatively long time before the Beirut Port explosion finally occurred was what resulted in so many different viewpoints of the blast being caught on video.
Twelve days after the horrific event, a new video has gone viral in Lebanon, showing very clearly the mushroom cloud that was less obvious in the angles provided by the previous close footage.
Shot at a long distance from the blast site (back-of-the-envelope calculation: roughly 5 km), the new video also provides a new perspective that shows just how massive the atomic-like explosion truly was.
The uncanny resemblance of the mushroom cloud of August 4th explosion to that of a nuclear detonation manifests most distinctly at the 8-second mark of the video before the smoke is pushed upwards and outwards by the force of the blast.
The explosion that resulted from the unsafe storage of 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate has prompted Lebanese authorities to request the support of external parties to take part in the ongoing investigation.
To help answer the pressing questions regarding the circumstances that led to the eruption of Beirut Port’s 6-year-old “time bomb,” the FBI will be joining the probe, as have French investigators.
Last Sunday, August 9th, the deadline set by the Lebanese authorities for the 5-day investigation was reached.
Accordingly, the local investigative committee submitted its findings along with a list of 20 officials who will be summoned and questioned by the judicial authorities in relation to the case.
This was before documents published by Reuters revealed that both Lebanese President Michel Aoun and caretaker Prime Minister Hassan Diab had been aware of the presence of the hazard at the Port of Beirut prior to the explosion.
President Aoun, who firmly rejected an international investigation, recently stated that “all hypotheses remained open” in the investigation.
That was a few days after he had said that “external interference through a rocket or bomb or other act” was a possibility.
