Port blasts destroy parts of Beirut
OVER 70 KILLED, 3,700 HURT; EXPLOSIONS FELT 240KM AWAY CITY DECLARED DISASTER ZONE; UAE OFFERS CONDOLENCES
Two enormous explosions rocked Beirut’s port yesterday, killing more than 70 people and wounding at least 3,700, shaking distant buildings and leaving the Lebanese capital in fear and chaos.
The deafening second blast sent an enormous orange fireball into the sky, flattened the harbourside and sent a tornado-like shockwave ripping through the city, shattering windows kilometres away.
The blast was stunning even for a city that has seen civil war, suicide bombings and bombardment by Israel. “It was a real horror show. I haven’t seen anything like that since the days of the [civil] war,’’ said Marwan Ramadan, who was about 500 metres from the port.
Bloodied casualties stumbled among debris and burning buildings across Beirut as Health Minister Hamad Hassan reported an initial estimated toll of over 73 dead and 3,700 injured.
‘Nothing like this before’
The blasts were heard as far away as Nicosia, 240km away.
“I’ve experienced everything, but nothing like this before,” even during the country’s 19751990 civil war, said Makrouhie
Yerganian, a retired schoolteacher in her mid-70s.
Abbas Ebrahim, chief of Lebanese General Security, said it might have been caused by highly explosive material that was confiscated from a ship some time ago and stored at the port.
Lebanon’s defence council later declared Beirut as a disaster zone, while Prime Minister Hasan Diab announced a day of mourning today.
UAE leaders offered condolences to the people of Lebanon. His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, expressed his support to the Lebanese people in a tweet saying, “our condolences to the beloved people of Lebanon ... May God, have mercy on those who passed away today ... May God grant them patience and solace.”
His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Abu Dhabi Crown Prince and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, also tweeted his condolences to the Lebanese. “Our thoughts and prayers are with our Lebanese brothers and sisters during these trying times. We pray that God grants you patience and solace. God bless Lebanon and the Lebanese people.”
What we are witnessing is a huge catastrophe. There are victims and casualties everywhere — in all the streets and areas near and far.”
George Kettani, head of Red Cross in Lebanon