NIGHTMARE BLAST IN BEIRUT
At least 78 dead near chem site
At least 78 people were killed and thousands injured when tons of ammonium nitrate sparked a massive explosion at Beirut’s port on Tuesday.
The series of blasts sent plumes of mushroom clouds into the sky above the Lebanese capital — leveling much of the city’s port area, blowing out windows and damaging buildings.
Prime Minister Hassan Diab described the blast as a “major national disaster” and said the explosive material had been sitting in a depot there since 2014.
“I will not rest until we hold whoever is responsible accountable and punish them with the most severe punishment,” he said during a meeting of the Higher Defense Council.
“It’s unacceptable that 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate have been stored in a container in a depot for the past six years,” he said.
The damage stretched for miles, many people injured by flying glass and other debris. Some likened the size of the blast to a “nuclear explosion.”
The blasts were heard as far away as Nicosia on the eastern Mediterranean island of Cyprus, some 150 miles away, according to Agence FrancePresse.
Images from Beirut’s airport, which is 6 miles away from the explosion, showed a collapsed ceiling and other damage to the structure.
Hospitals called for blood donations, and photographs showed images of the stunned victims.
Even Beirut’s hospitals were not spared, as some suffered damage and Al Roum Hospital called for people to bring spare generators.
A reporter with AFP at the scene said every shop in the Hamra district was damaged — with entire shopfronts leveled, windows shattered and many vehicles destroyed.
Injured people walked in a state of shock along the streets, while dozens of people were rushed to Clemenceau Medical Center, including children, AFP reported.
“Buildings are shaking,” one resident tweeted, while another wrote: “An enormous, deafening explosion just engulfed Beirut. Heard it from miles away.”
The office of the Daily Star newspaper was among the buildings damaged by the explosion.
Ghada Alsharif, a reporter at the outlet, posted a video of the damage and said local media reported that the incident involved fireworks. Parts of the ceiling collapsed, windows were blown out and furniture was damaged in her office.
Many buildings were damaged, including the headquarters of former Prime Minister Saad Hariri.
“I saw a fireball and smoke billowing over Beirut. People were screaming and running, bleeding,” a witness told Reuters.
“Balconies were blown off buildings. Glass in high-rise buildings shattered and fell to the street.”
Beirut resident Rania Masri, who was several miles away from the explosions, told CNN that her windows had been shattered.
“What I felt was that it was an earthquake,” Masri said.
“The apartment shook horizontally, and all of a sudden it felt like an explosion and the windows and doors burst open. The glass just broke. So
many homes were damaged or destroyed.”
The explosion came amid ongoing tensions between Israel and the Hezbollah military group on Lebanon’s southern border.
Many residents reported hearing planes overhead just before the blast, fueling rumors of an attack, though Israeli military flyovers are common.
An Israeli government official said Israel “had nothing to do” with the explosion.
He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the matter with the news media. Israeli officials usually do not comment on “foreign reports.”