Local families fear for loved ones following massive Beirut explosion
Leamington man watches in horror as scene unfolds in Lebanese capital
Paul Tawil knew there had been no warning, no chance of escape.
He could see from news footage that his cousin’s building — next to the Beirut port that exploded Tuesday in a massive fireball and mushroom cloud — had been obliterated.
What the Leamington resident didn’t know was whether his family was alive or dead.
“We were worried,” said Tawil, manager of the Leamington Lebanese
Club. “I talked to him all the time. We’re very close. When we called yesterday — no answer, no answer. I called my sister. She said she was calling and it was the same thing. She wasn’t getting any response.
“We were going crazy. All night I was watching news. Maybe they would say something on the news. I was watching and watching. Nothing.”
At least 135 people were killed and 5,000 wounded in an explosion that shook Beirut on Tuesday, reducing buildings to dust and shattering windows miles away. Hundreds of people are still missing, raising fears that the death toll will rise.
It was still unclear Wednesday exactly what caused the explosion. But Lebanese officials said the investigation would focus on 2,750 metric tons of ammonium nitrate that had been stored at a port warehouse after being confiscated six years ago.
Windsor area groups were starting to mobilize Wednesday to send money and prayers to the people of Lebanon.
St. Peter’s Maronite Catholic
Church in Windsor, which was the first Lebanese church in the region, said it will hold masses for victims of the explosion on Thursday at 6 p.m. and Sunday at 11:30 a.m.
The church is also asking for people to send donations to stpeterparish@hotmail.com or the Lebanese Red Cross.
“We have parishioners who have family members who lost their homes in Beirut and were also wounded,” Rev. Chadi Kattan wrote in an emailed statement. “There are still people missing and the rescue and search teams are still trying to locate them.
“We are calling for unity and solidarity prayers at St. Peter’s Maronite Catholic Church,” Rev. Kattan wrote.
Tawil said a meeting was also planned Wednesday night at Our Lady of Lebanon Church in Leamington to discuss how people can help.
He has several family members in Beirut, including his cousin Richard Souide, Richard’s wife Newel and their son Robert, 27.
Richard and his wife lived in the front side of a building facing the port.
During annual visits to Lebanon, Tawil would sit on their balcony with a coffee and watch the port.
Their son lived in the same building in a lower apartment.
“They were so close to the area,” said Tawil.
“Actually, their building, they showed it on the news this morning on CNN. It’s right beside.”
Following the explosion on Tuesday, Tawil could not reach any family members living anywhere near the site of the blast. He managed to speak to another cousin who lives a half-hour drive away from the port.
“The glass on their windows and doors are all shattered and broke,” he said.
Tawil said he stayed up all night Tuesday, trying to reach his cousin Richard while watching the horror play out on 24-hour news channels.
“We couldn’t sleep,” he said. “I stayed up until four o’clock in the morning to find out anything.
“I couldn’t find out anything.” He fell asleep around 4 a.m., and woke up around 6:30 a.m. to start working the phones again.
He was finally able to reach Robert Wednesday morning, who revealed that everyone survived, but his father was seriously hurt.
Robert told him they were all sleeping when the explosion went off.
“The whole top of their building, the roof is collapsed,” said Tawil. “The windows, the doors, all shattered.
“All gone.”
He said Newel had a wounded arm. Richard has a broken leg and badly injured back.
With their injuries, they were unable to escape.
Their son, who wasn’t seriously hurt, made his way through the wreckage as fast as he could to get up to his parent’s apartment.
“He went up there with his wife and he saved them,” said Tawil. “He pulled them out. He took them to the hospital.”
Several other family members who live in the same building also suffered less serious injuries. They were released from hospital Wednesday morning.
But Tawil was still worrying about Richard, who was in the midst of a lengthy surgery in the hopes of repairing some of the damage to his back.
“His son told me he’ll let me know as soon as he gets out,” said Tawil.
“If not tonight, tomorrow morning he’ll call. He should be OK. I hope so.”