‘Feels like a choking attempt’ - ex-SA resident in Lebanon
A former SA resident now living in Beirut, where an explosion on Tuesday evening killed at least 100 people and injured more than 4,000 said she felt her building shake when the blast went off — even though she lives about 4km away.
Nathalie Bucher — who lived in SA for 15 years before moving to the Lebanese capital — said she was at home in a neighbourhood that borders the Beirut municipality.
Her flat is about 4km from the port area where the blast occurred.
The explosion shattered glasses in people’s homes and caused apartment balconies to collapse.
Visuals also emerged of vehicles having overturned as shock waves ripped through the city.
“I suddenly felt the building I live in shake.
“It is 70 years old and sturdy,” Bucher said.
“My first thought was that this is an earthquake. Lebanon lies on a fault line.
“But then, even though some things fell off the shelves, I realised it was not an earthquake.”
From her sixth floor, Bucher said she could see a multitude of nearby buildings covered by a “massive” column of smoke.
“It was around 6.15pm. After feeling the shock wave, I heard how glass broke and sirens went off, and excited voices in the street below,” she said.
“That is when I knew there had been a blast. I suspected it to be in Achrafieh, where I have many friends — and my heart just froze.”
The first thing Bucher did was grab her cellphone and check on everyone she knew.
“So the networks, of course, get jammed and one gets overwhelmed — but it is a ritual [to check on others] that one does.
“I have now been on the phone and online for almost four hours non-stop.
“I have even had the mothers of friends call and offer accommodation in the north, to be safe,” she said.
She found out through social networks and friends that the explosion had occurred at the port, where there were warehouses housing explosives.
“This is very tragic as Lebanon has been going through a very hard time.
“The Lebanese Lira has depreciated by 80% in just a few months; there was a revolution sparked here in October 2019, which ignited much hope but then somewhat petered out due to the economic situation, and then the Covid-19 pandemic,” Bucher said.
“This blast, to me, literally feels like a choking attempt.”
It was not immediately clear what had caused the blaze that set off the blast.