Tag Archives: Explosion

Paris update – Possible 160 or More Murdered in Attacks, Siege at Concert is over

The night has been a terrifying and deadly one for the people of Paris and the country of France.  Although the numbers vary, News reports say that up to 160 people have been in killed and scores injured in numerous attacks beginning at the center of Paris.

Terrorists set off bombs close to the Paris futbol stadium and systematically shot people in and outside of restaurants with AK7 type weapons.

At the same time, the Bataclan theatre, filled with heavy metal concert goers was stormed by armed gunmen.  Over 100 people were held hostage until government troops were able to kill the terrorists  As we are learning from several news sources, many people hid in the balcony areas, lying between seats to escape the horror.  Buses have been brought in to remove survivors from the concert hall area.

According to the BBC,  French radio reporter Julien Pearce was inside the Bataclan theater when gunmen entered. Two men dressed in black started shooting what he described as AK-47s, and after wounded people fell to the floor, the two gunmen shot them again, execution-style, he said. The two men didn’t wear masks and didn’t say anything. The gunfire lasted 10 to 15 minutes, sending the crowd inside the small concert hall into a screaming panic, said Pearce, who escaped. He said he saw 20 to 25 bodies lying on the floor.

One official described “carnage” inside the building, saying the attackers had tossed explosives at the hostages.

Witnesses outside the venue in the 11th arrondissement reported hearing five successive explosions followed by gunshots.

Deputy Mayor Patrick Klugman told CNN the death toll in the attacks is going to rise significantly. “We are facing an unknown and historic situation in Paris,” he said.

The exact number of attacks are being investigated at this time. Unsubstantiated reports have stated up to 7 different locations. France has declared a state of emergency and has closed it’s borders.  President Francois Hollande has called for more troops to be brought in as military personnel are being deployed across the city.

As the investigation continues, more information will be provided on the number of gunman, deaths and injuries.

Rain Could Release Cyanide into Air after Tianjin Explosion

Environmental officials are warning the deaths from the explosion at the port of Tianjin may not end with the dousing of the fires that are still burning.

There are now fears that rain could release poisonous hydrogen cyanide into the air in the event of a heavy rain.  Also, more explosions could be possible as many of the chemicals still at the site violently explode when they come into contact with water.

“If there is rain, it will produce hydrogen cyanide, so we are monitoring it closely,” Bao Jingling, chief engineer for the Tianjin Environmental Protection Bureau told NBC News.  He added the nation’s anti-chemical warfare military divisions are on site.

Scientists also have admitted that they have found sodium cyanide in the waters of Bohai Bay.  Local officials say that they learned over 700 tons of sodium cyanide was stored at the site, 70 times the legal limit and that the chemicals had not been reported to Chinese customs officials.

The government has cleared a 1.8 mile area of the city with over 6,000 families forced from their homes.

The death toll from the blast has officially reached 114 and local rescuers say at least 90 people are still reported missing including many firefighters.  One firefighter told the NY Times that he doesn’t know the fate of 25 men from his brigade and “no one told [his crew] the fire involved chemicals.”

Some fire experts are speculating that the water from the hoses of the fire crews came into contact with explosive chemicals, causing the massive second explosion that had the force of 21 tons of TNT.

A 40-year-old man was found alive in the debris on Saturday and is hospitalized.  Thousands are now homeless because of the fire’s impact on surrounding buildings.

The city’s residents have taken to the streets to demand the government buy out their homes so they can begin a new life.  They say the toxins from the explosion are likely much worse than the government will admit.

Chinese Firefighter Rescued After Being Trapped 32 Hours

In what might be the only good news to come out of the massive explosion at a Chinese port late Wednesday, a lone firefighter was found alive after 32 hours of being classified as “missing” by Chinese authorities.

The 19-year-old firefighter, Zhou Ti, was quickly rushed to a local hospital where it was reported he has significant injuries to his face, chest and feet.  Fire officials said that they are continuing to search for other missing fire personnel.

“Forces from all sides are searching for the (remaining) missing firefighters,” Tianjin Fire Department head Zhou Tian said at a news conference Friday, according to The Associated Press.

Chinese government officials confirmed that 56 people have died because of the explosion including 21 firefighters.  Over 700 remain hospitalized because of blast related injuries.

Western officials are now asking if the firefighters contributed to the intensity of the explosions because many of the chemicals reportedly stored at the site react with water to form explosive compounds.

David Leggett, a chemical safety expert, told Reuters that calcium carbide reacts with water to form acetylene, a highly explosive gas.  That could have ignited ammonium nitrate that was stored at the facility. (By comparison, ammonium nitrate and acetylene were used by terrorist Timothy McVeigh in the Oklahoma City bombing.)

“In my mind, the presence of ammonium nitrate makes it easier to explain the level of devastation,” he told the news agency.

Chinese City Rocked by Massive Explosion

A massive explosion ripped through parts of the Chinese city of Tianjin Wednesday causing at least 300 reported injuries and seven deaths.

“The hospital cannot count how many patients we have received – there are too many of them and many of them have burn injuries,” an unidentified doctor told the London Guardian newspaper.  He said that doctors who had been in Beijing for a conference are being rushed back to the community because of the amount of injured.

The Chinese Seismological Network reported two major explosions, the first equivalent to the detonation of 3 tons of dynamite and the second which took place 30 seconds later equivalent to 21 tons of dynamite.

China’s state broadcaster, CCTV, reported that the explosions took place at a container port where flammable material was being stored.  The initial blast also triggered secondary blasts that residents reported feeling similar to earthquake tremors.

The blasts shattered windows and in some cases blew apart fish tanks in homes of nearby residents.

Chinese Public Security Ministry released information that they initially were called to the scene because of a fire and that the explosions took place after they arrived on the scene.  At least four firefighters are injured and two have been reported to have “lost contact” with Ministry officials.

Explosion At French Chemical Plant Intentional

French authorities are confirming that an explosion at a petrochemical plant in southern France was the result of intentional actions.

The two tanks that exploded and burned were located about 1,600 feet apart which raised suspicions of French investigators.  An electronic device “that could start a fire” was found in the ashes of the fire.

“The simultaneous explosion of the tanks, which are spaced about 500 metres (yards) from each other, is not the result of a technical accident. The thesis of criminal intent is clearly being considered,” a source close to french authorities told Reuters.

Prosecutors in Aix, France told a reporter for the BBC that the items were so badly damaged that they would need to be closely examined for any information.

The explosion comes a week after explosives and detonators were stolen from a military installation in Miramas, just 12 miles away from the explosion site.  Investigators would not say there was a connection to Islamist militants but they were “keeping an open mind at this stage.”

The explosions took place on Bastille Day, the day France celebrates the storming of the Bastille at the end of the French revolution.

Ten Fold Rise In Explosive Attacks By Palestinians in 2014

An IDF officer has released a report showing the number of IED attacks by Palestinians on Israelis has jumped ten fold in 2014.

The rise of 20 IEDs during 2014 compared to 2 in 2013 is indicative of a rise of across-the-board violence in the West Bank.

“The level of sophistication is not very high,” said Maj. Irad Hershkovitz, the demolitions officer of the Shomron Regional Brigade. “It’s not Yahya Ayyash. It’s not the Second Intifada. But there has been a very significant rise.”

Maj. Hershkovitz told the Times of Israel that most of the IEDs are explosives placed inside a cheap metal casing along with a watch or cell phone timer.

However, he said a crackdown has been taking place on bomb makers in the West Bank.

“The solution is the waves of arrests that we do,” he said, noting that the army is active in Area A, which is under full Palestinian control, and within the refugee camps surrounding Nablus. “There is not a night in which a few Palestinians are not arrested,” he said. “Nothing else can be done. That is what stops the wave of terror.”

Iranian Nuclear Plant Explosion Kills 2

An Iranian “nuclear expert” is among two people killed after a major explosion at a nuclear plant.

Iran’s official news agency confirmed the blast, saying that it took place around 10 a.m.  in an “explosive materials production unit.”   Witnesses reported hearing the explosion several miles from the blast site.

The location is one that Iranian officials have refused to allow inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency to visit since 2005.  It is thought to be one of the locations where Iran is continuing to work on development of a nuclear bomb.

Israeli Internal Security Minister Yuval Steinitz told journalists last month that Israel had obtained reliable information the plant was carrying out secret tests on technology that could only be used for the detonation of a nuclear weapon.

Iran has been stalling in nuclear talks with western powers over its illegal nuclear program.  The deadline for a permanent deal is set to be November 24.

Deadly Fertilizer Plant Explosion “Preventable”

(Note:  This is a follow up to a story we carried on April 18, 2013 on an explosion at a fertilizer plant in West, Texas.)

The deaths of 15 people and the wounding of 226 others in an explosion at a West, Texas fertilizer plant was completely preventable according to the investigation into the incident.

The U.S. Chemical Safety Board said Tuesday that the incident “should never have occurred.”

“It resulted from the failure of a company to take the necessary steps to avert a preventable fire and explosion and from the inability of federal, state and local regulatory agencies to identify a serious hazard and correct it,” Chairman Rafael Moure-Eraso said. “The community clearly was not aware of the potential hazard at West Fertilizer.”

The board’s investigation found that the factory was storing ammonium nitrate inside a wooden building that left it very susceptible to fire.  Ammonium nitrate is a common fertilizer but is also extremely explosive.

It has been used in terrorist attacks, such as the 1995 Oklahoma City Bombing.

Asteroids Cause Nuclear Level Explosions In Atmosphere

A new report shows that asteroids caused more than two dozen nuclear-level explosions in the Earth’s atmosphere.

The report from the B612 Foundation shows that the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Organization recorded 26 nuclear-level explosions between 2000 and 2013.  One blast was dozens of times stronger than the Hiroshima bomb with an equivalent power of 16 kilotons of TNT.

Scientists quoted in the report say that the explosions were too high in the atmosphere to cause serious damage on the ground.  However, the explosions show the significant threat to the planet from asteroid impacts.

“While most large asteroids with the potential to destroy an entire country or continent have been detected, less than 10,000 of the more than a million dangerous asteroids with the potential to destroy an entire major metropolitan area have been found by all existing space or terrestrially operated observatories,” former astronaut Ed Lu said.

Lu referenced the 2013 500-kiloton meteor explosion over Russia that caused significant damage to hundreds of square miles of homes and businesses.