Beirut explosion left 300,000 homeless, caused up to $15 billion in damage
Two days after a massive explosion in Beirut, the death toll held at 135 people with 5,000 wounded, yet the estimate on those made homeless increased to 300,000, with losses estimated between $10 and $15 billion, Beirut Gov. Marwan Abboud told the Saudi-owned TV station Al-Hadath.
On Thursday, French President Emmanuel Macron toured the destruction and was met by a crowd chanting at Lebanon’s political leaders: “Revolution” and “The people want to bring down the regime.
A woman shouted at him that he was sitting with warlords. Macron responded “I’m not here to help them. I’m here to help you,” and he and the woman, both wearing masks, embraced.
Macron said he wasn`t there to support the regime and said French aid would not fall into the “hands of corruption.”
“If reforms are not made, Lebanon will continue to sink,” Macron said.
As international aid flows into Lebanon, corruption remains a concern in a nation that was already reeling from an economic crisis. Decades after Lebanon`s 15-year civil war, residents endure frequent power outages and poor public services.
I lived in Beirut throughout the civil war, but never did I face such an experience, as the explosion Tuesday, said Nabil Dajani, media studies professor at the American University of Beirut. I cannot describe the damage I saw.
Ammonium Nitrate in Beirut
An investigation is underway into Tuesday`s blast, which appeared to have been caused by an accidental fire that ignited a port warehouse holding 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate.
Ammonium nitrate was used in the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995, when a truck bomb containing 2.4 tons of fertilizer and fuel oil killed 168 people in a federal building. It`s a common fertilizer that`s highly explosive.
The Beirut blast had a force of at least 500 tons of TNT, according to a U.S. government source who was not authorized to speak publicly. The estimate was based on the widespread destruction, said the source who has experience with military explosives.
Lebanon customs department chief Badri Daher told LBC TV late Wednesday that officials had sent five or six letters over several years to the judiciary asking that the ammonium nitrate be removed because it was dangerous.
The government said Wednesday that port officials have been placed under house arrest pending the investigation.
The cargo had been stored at the port since it was confiscated from a ship six years earlier. Based on the timeline and the size of the cargo, that ship could be the MV Rhosus. The ship was initially seized in Beirut in 2013 when it entered the port due to technical problems, according to lawyers involved in the case. It came from the nation of Georgia, and had been bound for Mozambique.
One theory of the cause is that the fire began when welders were trying to repair a broken gate and a hole in the wall of Hangar 12, where the ammonium nitrate was stored. Local news reports say the repair work was ordered by security forces concerned about theft. But port officials say the welders completed their work long before the fire broke out.
Lebanon Crisis Could Get Worse with COVID
Lebanon was already on the brink of collapse, with soaring unemployment and a financial crisis that has wiped out people’s life savings. Hospitals were already strained by the coronavirus pandemic, and one was so badly damaged by the blast it had to treat patients in a nearby field.
Dr. Firas Abiad, director general of Rafik Hariri University Hospital, the public hospital leading the coronavirus fight, said he expects an increase in cases in the next 10 to 15 days linked to thousands flooding hospitals and blood donation centers after the blast.
Tens of thousands have been forced to move in with relatives and friends after their homes were destroyed, increasing exposure. The country has reported more than 5,400 coronavirus cases and 68 deaths since February.
“There is no doubt that our immunity in the country is less than before the explosion and this will affect us medium- to long-term,” Abiad said. “We desperately need aid, not only us but all hospitals in Lebanon.”
St. George University Hospital, one of the major private hospitals in Beirut that had been receiving COVID-19 patients, was out of commission after suffering major damage.
At Hôtel Dieu, a university hospital in Beirut, oncologist Hampig Kourieh was finishing his shift when the explosion happened. He described hundreds of people covered in blood arriving on foot, cars and bikes ... the scene was apocalyptic. The smell of blood, Kourieh said, was so strong it was like iron was covering the ER. Three of his own relatives had to be treated in his hospital Tuesday night.
Rebuilding Reliant on `the Lebanese people`?
Food security is also a concern. The half-destroyed silos at the port housed about 85% of the nation`s grain. Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency quoted Raoul Nehme, the minister of economy and trade, as saying Lebanon had enough wheat for its immediate needs and would import more. About 80% of Lebanon’s wheat supply is imported, according to the U.S. Agriculture Department. The government said most imports will have to come through Tripoli [Lebanon].
Non-governmental organizations in Lebanon before the explosion were already struggling to provide the aid needed to the country. HOPE worldwide is one of those organizations that has been providing assistance to the country since last October.
In addition to providing and distributing food, the HOPE Worldwide`s Lebanon branch is preparing to renovate and rebuild homes that suffered damaged from the explosion.
This is as much as we can (do) as an NGO, Mofid Tohme, the president of HOPE Worldwide`s Lebanese branch, said.
Thousands of Lebanese citizens filled the streets in the days after the blast, bringing their own brooms, shovels and other materials to help clean up the streets of Beirut, according to Lebanese activist Ralph Baydou.
This is what also what is keeping the state alive, Baydou said. Us, the Lebanese citizens stepping in instead of the State.
The U.S. Embassy in Beirut says at least one American citizen was killed and several more were injured in Tuesday’s massive explosion in Beirut’s port.
“We offer our sincerest condolences to their loved ones and are working to provide the affected U.S. citizens and their families all possible consular assistance. We are working closely with local authorities to determine if any additional U.S. citizens were affected,” the embassy said in a statement Wednesday.
Contributing: Sarah Elbeshbishi and Nadia al-Faour for USA TODAY; The Associated Press
Photo: . Source:
Slide show of images after the blast.
Before and after: A visual explainer of the six-mile radius of the blast and the crater it left behind
Resources: How to help victims in Lebanon
