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News > Senegal

Senegal: Dakar Port to Remove a Cargo Similar to Beirut's Blast

  • Dakar Port, in Senegal.

    Dakar Port, in Senegal. | Photo: Twitter/ @JeromeOLLIER

Published 20 August 2020
Opinion

The owner of the chemical stock, who remains anonymous, is willing to move the cargo to a storehouse outside the city. The stockpile is currently in an area nearby Dakar’s center.

Senegal's Dakar port authorities requested the relocation of 2,700 tons of ammonium nitrate on Thursday, the same explosive that caused Beirut's blast.

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The owner of the chemical stock, who remains anonymous, is willing to move the cargo to a storehouse outside the city. The stockpile is currently in an area nearby Dakar's center.

"He is currently working with the environment ministry to obtain approval to urgently remove this cargo," the authorities at Dakar's Port said.

On August 4, a massive blast in Beirut's port left about 150 fatalities and thousands of injured. Preliminary inquiries concluded a stockpile of 2,700 tons of ammonium nitrate caused the explosion. The cargo was stored inappropriately for over six years in a port warehouse. 

Beirut's tragedy raised several alarms on chemicals use and storage, as well as port safety and the compliance of packing protocols. 

Dakar Port authorities said they follow international guidelines for dangerous materials' storage and management, according to the statement of the maritime company.

The ammonium nitrate is commonly used in pyrotechnics as well as an agricultural fertilizer, and it is not a combustible substance by itself.

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