Beirut blast impact: Now Chennai can heave a sigh of relief, all ammonium nitrate containers moved out of city

CHENNAI: All the 37 containers of explosive grade ammonium nitrate stored at a container freight station in Manali for the last five years have been moved out of Chennai, government sources said on Wednesday evening.

On Tuesday, 12 containers were moved out after 10 were moved out on Sunday. The remaining were taken out on trucks around 5pm on Wednesday.

The operation was supervised by K Sundaresan, deputy chief controller of explosives, Chennai.

The containers have been moved to Hyderabad after being bought in an auction by a buyer who supplies ammonium nitrate to quarries and coal mines, sources said.

As much as 740 tonne of explosive grade ammonium nitrate had been stored at the customs controlled CFS since 2015 after it was seized from a Karur-based company which had imported it without licence.

The storage created a scare in Chennai after a blast in Beirut, Lebanon , triggered by ammonium nitrate.