This archive report was first published on 5 August 2020.
Beirut Blast Leaves Trail of Destruction ¶
On August 4, 2020, a massive explosion shook Beirut's harbour area, leaving a trail of destruction and chaos in its wake.
The blast, which was felt as far away as Cyprus, 240 kilometres (150 miles) away, was caused by a fire that caught in a warehouse storing hundreds of tonnes of ammonium nitrate.
Security forces cordoned off the area, littered with glass and debris, as rescue teams scoured the site for survivors and the dead.
A woman, pleading for information about her brother, a port employee, was denied entry by security forces, while another woman fainted while searching for her brother.
Ambulance sirens rang out as vehicles ferried the dead out of the area for at least three hours, and fire trucks rushed in and out of the blast zone.
Inside the port, hangars were reduced to charred cans, with everything destroyed beyond recognition, as fire-fighting helicopters flew overhead, dumping water.
Abandoned luggage was strewn across the area, with an unattended corpse lying next to an untouched bag.
Every parked vehicle within a radius of several hundred metres sustained damage from the blast, with the cars closest to the site reduced to scrapyard metal.
Exhausted firemen rushed to the scene, searching for colleagues sent in earlier to put out the initial fire, while civil defence teams scoured the area for corpses.
"What are you taking pictures of? There are corpses everywhere," one security officer screamed at reporters.
The confirmed death toll stood at 78, but with over 3,000 wounded and hospitals struggling to cope, a much higher final count seemed inevitable.
Members of the security forces broke down in tears when one of their colleagues was brought to them dead on a stretcher, while a fellow police officer pulled out a picture of the deceased with his fiancee.
A ship anchored off the port was ablaze, causing panic among the authorities, who feared the fuel onboard would trigger another tragedy.
At least 10 crew members of two cargo ships damaged in the explosion were waiting to be treated by medics, with one Egyptian crew member saying, "The ship is sinking in the water, the explosion caused an opening in it, and there are serious injuries on board."
