Massive Beirut explosions kill at least 100, hurt thousands

Fear and chaos as people trapped under rubble, corpses scattered everywhere

BEIRUT (AP) — A massive explosion rocked Beirut on Tuesday, flattening much of the city’s port, damaging buildings across the capital and sending a giant mushroom cloud into the sky. More than 100 people were killed and thousands injured, with bodies buried in the rubble, officials said.

It was not clear what caused the blast, which struck with the force of a 3.5 magnitude earthquake, according to Germany’s geosciences center GFZ, and was heard and felt as far away as Cyprus more than 200 kilometers (180 miles) across the Mediterranean. Lebanon’s interior minister said it appeared that a large cache of ammonium nitrate in the port had detonated.

For hours after the explosion, the most destructive in all of Lebanon’s troubled history, ambulances rushed in from around the country to carry away the wounded. Hospitals quickly filled beyond capacity, pleading for blood supplies, and generators to keep their lights on.

For blocks around the port, bloodied residents staggered through streets lined with overturned cars and littered with rubble from shattered buildings. Windows and doors were blown out kilometers away, including at the city’s only international airport. Army helicopters helped battle fires raging at the port.

Interior Minister Mohammed Fahmi told a local TV station that it appeared the blast was caused by the detonation of more than 2,700 tons of ammonium nitrate that had been stored in a warehouse at the dock ever since it was confiscated from a cargo ship in 2014. Witnesses reported seeing an orange cloud like that which appears when toxic nitrogen dioxide gas is released after an explosion involving nitrates.

Videos showed what appeared to be a fire erupting nearby just before, and local TV stations reported that a fireworks warehouse was involved. The fire appeared to spread to a nearby building, triggering the more massive explosion, sending up a mushroom cloud and generating a shock wave.

Charbel Haj, who works at the port, said the blast started as small explosions like firecrackers. Then, he said, he was thrown off his feet.

BEIRUT (AFP) — An entire port engulfed in fire, ships ablaze at sea and crumbling buildings: the site of the massive blast in Beirut’s harbor area resembled a post-nuclear landscape.

Soldiers cordoned off the area, littered with glass and debris from the explosion which officials said was the result of fire catching in a warehouse where hundreds of tons of ammonium nitrate were stored.

A woman in her twenties stood screaming at security forces, asking about the fate of her brother, a port employee.

“His name is Jad, his eyes are green,” she pleaded, to no avail as security forces would not let her enter.

Nearby another woman almost fainted while also asking about her brother who worked at the port.

Ambulance sirens rang throughout the area as vehicles ferried the dead out for at least three hours and fire trucks rushed in and out of the blast zone.

Inside the port itself, the hangars looked like charred cans, everything destroyed beyond recognition as fire-fighting helicopters flew overhead, dumping water.

Abandoned luggage was strewn across the area. Next to one untouched bag lay an unattended corpse.

Every parked vehicle within a radius of several hundred meters sustained damage from blast, so big that it was felt in Cyprus, 240 kilometers (150 miles) away.

The cars closest to the site of the explosion were reduced to scrapyard metal, their wailing alarms and flashing lights adding to the chaos.

Exhausted firemen were rushing to the scene, some searching for colleagues sent in earlier to put out the initial fire that was raging before the bigger explosion shook the city.

With the help of the security forces, civil defense teams scoured the area for corpses, as officers screamed at reporters who were trying to document the disaster.

“What are you taking pictures of? There are corpses everywhere,” said one of them.

The death toll has reached 100 but with more than 4,000 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.

A fellow police officer pulled out a picture of the deceased with his fiancee, as his comrades wept.

‘Don’t know what to do’

A ship anchored off the port was ablaze from the mushroom of fire, causing panic among the authorities fearing the fuel onboard would trigger another tragedy.

Sitting on a sidewalk near the site of the blast, at least 10 crew members of two cargo ships damaged in the explosion were waiting to be treated by medics.

“The ship is sinking in the water, the explosion caused an opening in it, and there are serious injuries on board,” said an Egyptian member of the crew of one of the ships, Mero Star.

“We heard firecrackers and we saw smoke coming out of a warehouse … and after a few minutes the explosion happened,” said another crew member, who asked not be named.

Syrian and Egyptian crew had arrived at the port on Tuesday on board a ship carrying cargo from Ukraine, and many were planning to head back home on Tuesday.

“From the day we set sail six months ago, we had been looking forward to this day of homecoming,” said one Syrian seafarer.

Another Egyptian crew member said he was planning to go back home on Wednesday after months at sea.

AFP-Yonhap A helicopter puts out a fire at the scene of an explosion at the port of Lebanon’s capital Beirut, Tuesday. Two huge explosions rocked Beirut, killing over 100 people and wounding thousands as they sent huge plumes of smoke billowing into the sky.

AFP-Yonhap Firefighters evacuate a wounded man from the scene of an explosion at the port in Beirut, Tuesday. Two huge explosions rocked the Lebanese capital Beirut, wounding thousands, shaking buildings and sending huge plumes of smoke billowing into the sky.