AMMONIUM nitrate is used in making explosive materials and bombs. And in high temperature, it emits gaseous emissions which are very hazardous. Therefore, the placement and storage of ammonium nitrate must be in temperature-controlled warehouses.

The mayhem that was caused by the explosion that rocked Lebanon’s capital city, Beirut, was the result of an unsafe warehouse where 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate was stored.

As a safety expert I can recount one such incident from the past. In April 1947, a ship carrying 2,087 tonnes of ammonium nitrate berthed in Galveston Bay, Texas. Owing to high temperatures and possibly improper handling of the cargo, there was a small fire which resulted in a huge explosion. The mishap caused at least 581 deaths and demolished more than 700 homes and buildings. The intensity of the blast was so severe that the ships’s nearly two-tonne anchor was found three kilometres inland!

One hopes our authorities take a lesson from the Beirut tragedy and ensure careful handling of hazardous cargo in our ports.

Engr Waqar Badar Kandhro

Larkana

Published in Dawn, August 11th, 2020