Society
05.08.2020
Explosions in Lebanon: more than 100 dead, international support multiplies
Two explosions blew the city of Beirut on Tuesday, following what appears to be an industrial accident. The provisional toll of the disaster is around a hundred dead and several thousand injured. Several states, including France and Saudi Arabia, offered their material and humanitarian support on Wednesday.
At least 100 dead, thousands injured and hundreds of thousands homeless. This is the provisional assessment of two explosions that rocked Beirut on Tuesday.
An apocalypse setting
In the aftermath of the disaster, the Lebanese capital woke up to an apocalypse setting, residents still looking for the missing and personal belongings under the rubble. Since Tuesday, the web has been flooded with videos of the impressive explosion that blew through the city.
Pray for Beirut 🙏 #BeirutBlast pic.twitter.com/NAOWCDlQWb
— Jonah Tillman (@JonahTillman6) August 5, 2020
According to the authorities, 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate, stored in a warehouse in the port of Beirut, are the cause of the large explosion. The cataclysm, presented as accidental, was of such power that the shock generated was felt on the island of Cyprus 200 km away.
Humanitarian aid and symbolic support
Faced with the scale of the disaster, several States of the world have shown their support for Lebanon. France sent 55 firefighters and several tonnes of medical equipment to Beirut on Wednesday. Saudi Arabia, via KSRelief, the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Rescue Center, dispatched emergency teams to the site and started several blood donation campaigns.
View from my balcony and my bedroom today. Beirut is in shambles. Buildings are down to pieces. People are broken. I don’t think I’ll ever experience anything like yesterday. #prayforbeirut #بيروت_منكوبة #علقوا_المشانق #بيروت_في_قلوبنا pic.twitter.com/P4qcuh9W93
— Maroun BouZerdan (@maroun_zerdan) August 5, 2020
In a more symbolic register, the Burj Khalifa tower in Dubai was illuminated in the colors of the Lebanese flag, as were the pyramids of Giza in Egypt.