Beirut Explosion Jolted the Entire Capital
A massive explosion jolted the city of
Beirut on Tuesday evening after 6 pm local time, killing at least 100 people
with more than 4000 causalities. People are looking for their loved ones in
hospitals, and an untold number of people are still missing. Rescue workers are
struggling to recover bodies from under the rubble in the power-outraged city,
clearing heaps of shattered glasses from the streets and roads broken from the
windows of surrounding buildings. According to the officials, the death toll is
likely to increase as the picture of the port and the surrounding area became
clear this Wednesday morning.
According to the details, the capital
city of Lebanon echoed with the siren of ambulances and screams and shouts of
people as gigantic smoke clouds engulfed the port area. After a while, a huge
explosion took place that the authorities blame resulted due to the storage of 2,750
tons of highly reactive explosive chemical ammonium nitrate that was stored
without proper safety measures at a warehouse of Beirut port. The explosion was
so powerful that it sent shock waves across the city and was felt more than 150
miles away in Cyprus. More than 300,000 people are homeless and the damage has
extended up to half of the city. St George’s hospital located less than 2
km from the blast has been destroyed. Injured people are receiving treatment in
the streets as the hospital is broken.
Before and after images from the #explosion that happened in #Beirut, #Lebanon on August 4, 2020. Before image from June 2020 and after image from today, August 5, 2020. More imagery showing the devastation will follow. pic.twitter.com/dfj4ItyTXL
— Maxar Technologies (@Maxar) August 5, 2020
The president of Lebanon, Michael Aoun
announced a two-week state of emergency as the hospitals are overflooded with causalities
and the state that was already fighting COVID-19 pandemic along with economic
crisis has to face another catastrophe. The port had wheat granaries that were
also destroyed in the blast and it is feared that the country will also face
food crisis as Lebanon imports 90% wheat. According to The Guardian, the port granaries held about 85% of the
country’s cereals.
The home of Lebanese Prime minister Hassan Diab
was destroyed in the blast and his wife and daughter suffered injuries. He gave
his assurance to investigate the matter and punish all those who are responsible
for the negligence. “As head of
the government, I will not relax until we find the responsible party for what
happened, hold it accountable, and apply the most serious punishments against it”.
Lebanese people are demanding answers
to some serious questions as to why the huge amount of highly explosive material was kept without safety measures in the port area and that too without
securing the site?
The actual moment when a massive explosion rocked #Lebanon’s capital city #Beirut pic.twitter.com/zHEpxeTJYC
— eurochan.org (@eurochandotorg) August 4, 2020
Ammonium nitrate is a commonly used chemical
in the making of fertilizer and explosives. Tons of it was confiscated from
cargo ships in 2014 and stored in the warehouse of the Beirut port. Beirut’s governor Philip Boulos
declared the explosion as a national disaster and compared it to the Hiroshima and Nagasaki nuclear attacks. President
of the US increased the confusion by saying that “some of our great generals”
had told him ” that it was a bomb of some kind.” Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim, the
head of Lebanon’s general security told the local news agency that “highly
explosive materials” had been confiscated by the government years ago and had
been stored near the blast site. However, the possibility of intentionally
setting it off is being probed while calling it an act of terrorism would be “ahead
of the investigation”.
