2020 World Events · Pandemic shock, supply-chain compromise, and high-intensity war
Beirut port explosion
Stored ammonium nitrate exploded at Beirut's port, killing hundreds and devastating the city.
Evidence-led reading
What is stated, why it matters, and what remains uncertain
What this is
A specific-event record selected from the protected World Events source ledger for cross-year research. It is not an exhaustive account of 2020.
Why it matters
It exposed corruption, infrastructure neglect, and state fragility.
What is established here
The page faithfully exposes the submitted record and its source boundary. No claim-level evidence packet has yet upgraded the record beyond a research starting point.
What remains uncertain
Starting-point source from the submitted dataset; verify exact dates, attribution, legal posture, casualty figures, and current status before reuse.
Record narrative
Source-bounded summary
Stored ammonium nitrate exploded at Beirut's port, killing hundreds and devastating the city.
It exposed corruption, infrastructure neglect, and state fragility.
Structured fields
Record at a glance
- Stable record ID
- 2020-007
- Date or period
- 2020-08-04
- Type
- Industrial disaster / governance crisis
- Focus
- Infrastructure / governance
- Impact scope
- Global
- Priority
- 4 of 5
- Location label
- Beirut, Lebanon
- Coordinate precision
- City-level coordinate
- Actors named by the source record
- Lebanese authorities; port operators; residents
- Verification state
- source-start-point; sensitive details require independent verification
Geographic context
A coordinate locator, not a surveyed event footprint
The submitted record supplies 33.8938, 35.5018 with the precision label “City-level coordinate.” Multi-location events, disputed borders, campaigns, and broad regions cannot be reduced to one point.
Review location and coordinate boundariesSource and verification boundary
This remains a starting-point record
Starting-point source from the submitted dataset; verify exact dates, attribution, legal posture, casualty figures, and current status before reuse.
Citation and correction
Use the stable record ID and challenge individual propositions
A correction may concern the date, place, actors, attribution, legal status, figures, coordinate precision, source characterization, or why-pivotal summary without invalidating every other field.
2IA — International Intelligence Archive. “Beirut port explosion.” World Events record 2020-007. Reviewed July 27, 2026. https://2ix.org/world-events/2020/2020-007/