Early human beings witnessed volcanoes exploding and earthquakes that made the ground shudder. But it took the Industrial Revolution to allow humans to create their own massive calamities. So, what is the biggest explosion in history for which we are solely to blame – and not mother nature? Let’s take a look…
Beirut explosion – 2020
On August 4, 2020, the capital of Lebanon, was rocked by an enormous explosion centred on the port area. Hundreds died, thousands were injured, and hundreds of thousands left homeless. The equivalent of 1.1 kilotons of TNT had been badly stored and when it went up, created a scene from hell. The blast was felt in neighbouring countries. Hospitals, already overwhelmed by Covid cases (as this was the height of the pandemic), now saw a flow of victims.
Blame for the incident was soon focused on a ship: the MV Rhosus. As is often the case, ownership of this vessel was complicated, if not a bit murky. Officially owned by a Panamanian company but in reality regarded by the port as the property of the Russian tycoon, Igor Grechushkin. It had docked in Beirut back in 2013, carrying thousands of tonnes of ammonium nitrate. Deemed to be unseaworthy, it was forbidden to carry on to its final destination in Mozambique and instead languished in the port at Beirut for years.
The port authorities had removed the cargo to a warehouse and then written a string of letters to the authorities pointing out the danger of this material and the desirability of moving it on somewhere else. However, bureaucratic inertia meant nothing was done. The disaster that followed fuelled conspiracy theories where fingers were pointed at Israel, Hezbollah, and others – but in truth, bungling and corruption led to needless death and destruction.
I was involved in a democracy building program in Lebanon just before the explosion, and was in and out of Beirut during late 2019 and early 2020. The country was on its knees economically and facing a whole host of political problems. Hopes that Beirut could once more become the ‘Paris of the eastern Mediterranean’ were looking very forlorn by this period.
The port explosion simply cemented the despair into place. Lebanese took to the streets to protest against corruption and the involvement of politicians in the disaster but to little avail. What should be a top tourist destination is now the basket case of the eastern Mediterranean.
Tianjin port explosion – 2015
The Beirut explosion was on an epic scale but five years earlier, the largest port in northern China witnessed a gruesome incident. A series of explosions rocked the port killing around 173 people. The culprit was a company that handled deadly chemicals: Tianjin Dongjiang Port Ruihai International Logistics. As firefighters arrived to put out the inferno, they were knocked back by more explosions. About 21 firefighters were among the dead.
DISCOVER: The terrible Lisbon earthquake of 1755
Halifax explosion – 1917
Explosions in ports can be devastating given the cargoes often passing through – especially during wartime. During the First World War (1914-1918), two ships collided in the harbour of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. This resulted in the biggest man-made explosion in human history. Around 1,782 people in the neighbourhoods around the port died while at least nine thousand were injured.
The SS Mont-Blanc was a French ship packed with explosives on the way back to the mother country. The other ship was Norwegian – the SS Imo. Both had to navigate a narrow channel and other ship captains had already noted that the SS Imo was using excessive speed to make up for lost time. SS Mont-Blanc sounded a warning to the captain of the Imo who refused to give way as he moved towards the French ship in the opposite direction. The collision was inevitable. The blame was idiotic machismo on the part of the Norwegian captain.
Incredibly, the Mont-Blanc’s captain, realising what was going to happen, ordered his entire crew to take to the lifeboats and head for shore. The evacuation took just ten minutes and the crew ran into nearby woods, hiding behind a natural depression in the landscape. Local residents were not so fortunate as the Mont-Blanc blew up like a volcano (pictured below).
One of the crew, who had served in the First World War trenches, told a journalist: “I have been in the war. I have been in front of German guns, but never before was there an explosion like this. It was worse than 100 shells. A shell will blow up a house, but Mon Dieu, this blew up the city.” When his ship exploded, he was already sheltering a mile away and yet three of his comrades standing nearby were killed by flying debris.
SS Grandcamp, Texas City explosion – 1947
Thirty years later, a fire on board the French-registered ship SS Grandcamp wrought havoc on the port of Texas City, in Galveston Bay. This detonated a toxic cargo of over 2,000 tonnes of ammonium nitrate. The resulting fire spread to other ships and an oil storage plant with predictable results. Thirteen hours after the initial explosion, another ship – appropriately named High Flyer – burst into flames. That explosion killed onlookers who had gathered to watch the fire on the Grandcamp being put out. A warning to rubberneckers everywhere.
At least 581 people died and every member bar one of the local volunteer fire department. In fact, the fire station itself was levelled. A local school gym was crammed with embalmed bodies in the days that followed. Bunting still hung from the ceiling from a previous school party while the gym floor was covered in sand to absorb the blood. Meanwhile, Texan governor Beauford Halbert Jester (1893-1949) declared a state of emergency.
Most of the local population fled, on hearing rumours that a chlorine gas cloud was descending on them. Some bizarre solutions were put forward to control the still raging fires including controlled explosions around the port and spraying the entire city with the poisonous insecticide, DDT (Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane). At the time, the downside of DDT was not fully recognised.
The inquiry set up to investigate the incident stated that the impact was equivalent to the simultaneous explosion of 250 five-tonne blockbuster bombs – more than the force of the nuclear blasts at Hiroshima or Nagasaki.
Munitions factory explosions
During both World Wars, munitions factories posed a huge safety problem. Some of the tragic factory explosions are now tragically forgotten. For example, in April 1940, a munitions factory blew up in north London killing at least fifteen people. At a nearby garden centre, seven thousands panes of glass were shattered in the greenhouses. One worker described a “pillar of fire” shooting up into the sky. Incredibly while that area of the factory was devastated, workers in other parts of the factory continued with production – such was the need to defeat Nazi Germany.
Even by 1940 – in only the first year of World War Two – there were reported to have been six major explosions at munitions works. In January, for example, the Royal Gunpowder Factory in the historic town of Waltham Abbey had witnessed an explosion killing five workers. It’s now a tourist destination with its three hundred year old industrial remains and the accident seems to have been largely erased from the records.
Many of the safety measures put in place to protect workers during the Second World War (1939-1945) – such as mixing dangerous chemicals away from the main factory area – were the result of catastrophic incidents in the First World War (1914-1918). One of the worst was in the east London district of Silvertown (pictured below), now part of the modern borough of Newham. On January 19, 1917, fifty tonnes of the explosive TNT ignited killing 73 people and injuring hundreds.
In the City of London, the financial heart of the British capital, buildings were shaken and hotels saw windows broken – even though Silvertown was several miles away. People ran into the streets thinking it was a Zeppelin raid by the German air force – as London was subject to aerial bombardment during both world wars. Many of those who survived the Silvertown explosion endured a form of “shell shock”. Any loud bangs or sudden noises would send them into convulsions and they suffered from immense panic and anxiety disorder.
Flour mill Glasgow explosion – 1872
Factory explosions are normally associated with the manufacture or storage of deadly materials. But on July 9, 1872, the Tradeston Flour Mills in Glasgow blew up killing eighteen people. The stuff of bread and cakes proved to be every bit as deadly as TNT.
The direct cause of the explosion was an accident that stopped the flow of grain feeding into two industrial millstones, which continued grinding together but began to overheat. This ignited the surrounding air, which was thick with dust. Hard to believe that flour could be that flammable – but it certainly was, creating an unstoppable inferno.
