Why was the explosion so massive? "The plant uses ammonium nitrate in fertilizer production, the same chemical used in 1995's Oklahoma City Bombing," says Siobhan Morris at Newstalk 1010.

"Over the years, over 40 or so major explosions of ammonium nitrate. This is just the latest one. So it's really a major concern; even though the likelihood is low, the outcome is catastrophic.

The ammonium nitrate had reportedly been unloaded from a ship impounded at the port in 2013, and then stored in a warehouse there. The explosion comes at a sensitive time for Lebanon, with an ...

The lawn and garden fertilizer plant is home to more than 300 tons of ammonium nitrate, and officials feared a potential explosion. According to local media, the fire started Monday night.

Initial investigations into the Beirut port blast indicate years of inaction and negligence over the storage of highly explosive material caused the explosion ... tons of ammonium nitrate, used ...