Semester October 2020 – February 2021

INDUSTRIAL ACCIDENT (BEIRUT EXPLOSION)

Prepared for:
Madam Shareena Fairuz binti Abdul Manaf
Prepared by:
Name Student ID
Nur Aqilah binti Mohd Yusoff 2017110537
Hazim bin Baharuddin 2017169769
Norabiatuladawiyah binti Mohd Noor Isham 2017177035
Aisyah Aqilah binti Abdullah 2017129007

Presented by:
Siti Nur Farhanis binti Ahmad (2017386861)
BEIRUT EXPLOSION
Industrial Accident
Beirut Explosion (2020)
• Flow Diagram of the Industrial Accident
• Damages Caused by the Explosion
• Lesson Learnt from the Disaster
• Root Cause and Intermediate Cause
• Possible Prevention
Flow Diagram
27th September 2013, Moldovan- The heavy machinery was stacked
21st November 2013, the ship After inspection by port state
flagged cargo ship (MV Rhosus) on the top of the doors of the
made port in Beirut and attempted control, the MV Rhosus was
set sailed from Batumi, Georgia to cargo that stored Ammonium
to take on shipment of heavy believed to be unseaworthy and
Beira, Mozambique carrying 2750 Nitrate causing the doors to
machinery in Beirut. was forbidden to sail.
tonnes of Ammonium Nitrate. buckle which damaging the ship.

5 out of 9 crew members were

The ship ran out of supply and the Grechushkin, the owner of the
4th February 2014, Beirut port repatriated to Ukraine with
remaining crew unable to leave ship went bankrupt and the
authority seized the ship due to Ukraine consul help, leaving 4
the ship due to immigration charteres lost interest in the cargo,
USD100,000 unpaid bills members behind to take care of
restriction. thus the ship was abandoned.
the ship.

Customs officials sent letter to The letters that were sent on 27th
The judge ordered the cargo to be judges requesting resolution to the June and 5th Deccember 2014, 6th
The remaining crew were allowed
brought ashore and placed it in issue of the confiscated cargo, May 2015, 20th May and 13th
to go back due to danger threat
Warehouse 12 at the port, where it proposing to either export, give to October 2016 and last on 27th
with the help of lawyers.
remained for 6 years. army or sell to private Lebanese October 2017 were not responded
Explosive Company. by the judges.
Flow Diagram
The warehouse stored ammonium
At 5.55pm, a team of 9
4th August 2020, a fire broke out nitrate that has been confiscated
February 2018, the MV Rhosus firefighters and 1 paramedics
in Warehouse 12 at the Port of alongside with a “stash” of
sank in the harbor knows as Platoon 5 dispatched to
Beirut. fireworks and located next to
fight the fire.
grain silos.

At 6.07pm, the first explosion As they arrived, they reported

Approximately 33 to 35 seconds The warehouse heavily damaged
occurred likely triggered by the there was something wrong with
later, the second explosion with force equivalent to around
stored fireworks. The explosion the fire as the fire was huge
occurred which much more 1.5 – 2.5 tons of TNT, the size of
sent up large cloud of smoke with together with unknown sound
substantial. mid-size truck bomb.
crackle of bright firework flashes. produced.

It shake the central of Beirut and

The second explosion was felt in The next morning on 5th August,
sent red-orange cloud into air
northern Israel and in Cyprus the main fire that led to the
which was briefly surrounded by
which are 240km away. explosion had been extinguished.
white condensation cloud.
Damage caused by the Explosion
• 204 death included 3 still missing.
• More than 6500 people injured.
• More than 150 people become permanently
disabled.
• All the members of Platoon 5 died at the scene
of blast.
• Up to 300,000 people become homeless.
• Grain silos destroyed exacerbating the food
shortages due to Covid-19 and severe
financial crisis.
• A lot buildings and home destroyed.
Video Footage of
the Explosion
This is the second explosion that was
caught on video footage.
• Explosive chemicals such as Ammonium Nitrate should be stored in a
safe environment away from fire or heat source Lesson Learnt from the
• Explosive materials should be stored far away from residential or
populated area Industrial Accident
• Fast and proper actions need to be taken when it involve the safety of
workers, community and environment
• Safety rules should be strictly followed by workers or anyone who is
involved with storage, handling or near hazardous materials
• Explosive and flammable materials should not be stored near each other
to prevent a chain event involving the two of it
• Presence of explosive, flammable and dangerous chemicals should be
notified and make visible to the maintenance teams and higher ups to
prevent any tragedy
Immediate Cause
• Almost 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate, which was seized six years ago and
exploded. This explosion occurred because the storage area of ​the explosives did
not maintain safety norms. The fuel was left unattended for six years, and an

•
explosion could also occur if there was fuel near the area,
There are two ways this large stock of ammonium nitrate can cause an
Immediate Cause and
explosion, first, it can occur if the storage area is in contact or close to the blast
mixture or external energy source. This is because based on the contagious Root Cause
video in the media that says there was a fire near the building followed by a big
explosion and some also said that the explosion occurred as a result of
firecrackers. Second, explosions may also occur due to flames entering the
ammonium nitrate storage due to the heat generated due to the large-scale
oxidation process.
Root Cause
• Explosions occur as a result of maintenance or observation of ammonium nitrate
explosives. Employees need to establish safe safety norms to ensure that
conditions are always safe because the employee stores explosive materials.
• Do not leave explosives in flammable areas. In this incident, ammonium nitrate
was located near the fire, which is a building containing fireworks. The effects
of heat from an explosion or fire may cause this ammonium nitrate to also be
exposed to high heat pressure causing a large and second explosion to occur.
Possible Prevention
• Follow the regulations and rules concerning the transportation
of dangerous cargo.
• Avoid storing ammonium nitrate in large quantity at place near
heat source.
• Prepare guidance on how to safely handle hazardous materials.
As example, putting a limit quantity to store ammonium nitrate
and if it exceed the limit, the storage should be away from
population.
• Any facility that stored ammonium nitrate should be aware of
the hazards and ensure the condition that may leads to
explosion are not present.
• The authority such as the judges should have resolved the issue
as the custom officials suggested.
• Notify the emergency department dispatched the hazardous
substances present near the fire.