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 Tödlichste Ammoniumnitrat Explosionen infographic
Grafik zeigt Details der tödlichsten Industrieunfälle durch Explosion von Ammoniumnitrat.
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KATASTROPHEN

Schwere Unfälle durch Explosion von Ammoniumnitrat

By Jordi Bou

August 6, 2020 - Während die Libanesen ihrem Ärger über die Regierung Luft machen, weil ihrer Meinung nach Nachlässigkeit zu der schweren Explosion geführt hat, die große Teile von Beirut in Schutt und Asche legte. Experten kritisieren, dass derart explosives Material für so lange Zeit nahe dem Zentrum einer Stadt mit 2 Millionen Einwohnern gelagert werden konnte.

This is not the first time that ammonium nitrate, which is reasonably cheap to manufacture, has been implicated in deadly industrial explosions.

In 1921 an explosion of 4,500 tonnes of ammonium sulphate and nitrate fertiliser at a plant in Oppau, Germany, killed 565 people.

The deadliest industrial accident in U.S. history occurred in 1947 at Texas city, when at least 581 people were killed when more than 2,000 tonnes of the chemical detonated on-board a ship which had docked in the port.

More recently, an explosion involving ammonium nitrate and other chemicals killed 173 people in the port of Tianjin northern China in 2015.

It has also been used in several terrorist acts, including the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995. In that instance, Timothy McVeigh used two tonnes of ammonium nitrate to create a bomb which destroyed a federal building and killed 168 people.

Sources
PUBLISHED: 07/08/2020; STORY: Graphic News; PICTURES: Getty Images
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