Deadly Explosions Shatter Parts of Lebanon's Capital Beirut, Causing Death of 137 | 5,000 Wounded in Shocking Blasts

Trigger warning: Distressing images and videos

There are few moments in modern history that have left people unable to articulate the destruction they saw. The explosions in Beirut, Lebanon at 6 pm local time on Tuesday, August 4, 2020, are one of those moments. At least 137 people died and almost 5,000 others were wounded (at the time of publication) in the explosions that are being chalked up to the tonnes of stored ammonium nitrate in the port region of the city.

The downtown business district was ravaged by the blasts, which could have been due to some 2,750 tonnes of confiscated ammonium nitrate what was stored in a warehouse at the port for six years, as per AlJazeera. The series of blasts were captured on videos, that have been shared on social media extensively. The government in Lebanon has declared a two-week state of emergency in the capital city, handing control of security in Beirut to the military.

The shockwaves were felt across the city and the damage has been widespread. The death toll is expected to rise as emergency workers look for survivors in the rubble. Beirut's city governor Marwan Abboud revealed that almost 300,000 people lost their homes and the administration is working to provide them with food, water, and shelter. As the city tries to come back to life slowly, people are growing angry there since there is evidence that officials knew about the confiscated chemicals being stored in the port region.

The blast, that looked like a nuclear attack as plumes of smoke rose up into the sky, was so powerful it was felt more than 150 miles away in Cyprus, as per New York Times. The blasts caused a docked passenger ship to capsize, shattered windows for miles away, and it shook the earth as strongly as a 3.3-magnitude earthquake.

"What we are witnessing is a huge catastrophe," the head of Lebanon’s Red Cross, George Kettani, told the Beirut-based news network Al Mayadeen, as per New York Times. "There are victims and casualties everywhere."

Even electricity was out in most of the city and massive aid work is required to help the victims. "We need everything to hospitalize the victims, and there is an acute shortage of everything," the health minister, Hamad Hassan, told Lebanese media.

One wedding videographer who was shooting a video for a bride on the streets of Beirut captured the heart-stopping moment as well. "The area I was in -- within matter of seconds -- it went from beautiful place to ghost town filled with dust, shattered glass and people yelling [and] bleeding," said the groom, Dr. Israa Seblani, to CNN. "It was like a nightmare scene."

In moments of such senseless destruction, there was a moment of hope when a grandmother, who was saved as she was not at home when the blast shattered her house, started playing Auld Lang Syne on her piano. It was a wedding gift from her father and survived the blasts.

"She pushed through the pain and tried to have a few moments of peace," said her granddaughter, May-Lee Melki to CNN.

Ordinary heroes rose to the occasion during this harrowing time. One nurse is being hailed for saving the lives of three newborns at a hospital that was impacted by the blasts.

References:

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/08/lebanon-eyes-state-emergency-deadly-beirut-blast-live-200804234925493.html

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/04/world/middleeast/beirut-explosion-blast.html

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/05/world/middleeast/beirut-lebanon-explosion.html

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/08/05/middleeast/beirut-explosion-couple-wedding-shoot-trnd/index.html

https://edition.cnn.com/middleeast/live-news/lebanon-beirut-explosion-live-updates-dle-intl/index.html