Italian explosives expert Danilo Coppe believes an ammo/explosives depot in Beirut was the epicenter of the massive blast of Aug 4. The resulting orange cloud further confirms the existence of such a stock at the port.
Beirut, l'esperto: «Nitrato di ammonio? Penso piuttosto a un'esplosione di munizioni e missili»
The arms depot contained missiles from Iran.
“I don't think there was that amount of ammonium nitrate [2,750 tons] in the port of Beirut, or that there was a fireworks depot. Judging from the videos, it seems more like an explosion of an armament warehouse,” Coppe explains.
“I don't believe in the ammonium nitrate theory for several reasons. First, the quantity: 2,700 tons would mean that someone built an Olympic size swimming pool and filled it with that substance,” Coppe says. “And then the ammonium nitrate, when it detonates, generates an unmistakable yellow cloud,” Coppe explains. In the Beirut blast, we clearly witnessed a brick orange/dark red cloud.
“Instead from the videos of the explosion, in addition to the white sphere that is seen to widen, which is air condensation by the sea, you can clearly see a brick orange column tending to dark red, typical of the participation of lithium,” Coppe adds. Lithium? “… lithium-metal is the propellant for military missiles. I think there were armaments there,” Coppe adds.
First, the warheads were destroyed. Listen and see them them going off.