PHOTO PROVIDED BY WALID MERHI
Sister of Walid Merhi
Hospitals in the Lebanese capital were already under quota due to COVID - 14. With over 3000 injured, they simply could not meet the demand and redirected patients to the outskirts of Beirut.
The identified substance
About 2750 tons of ammonium nitrate stored in the warehouse at the port of Beirut would be the cause of the explosions, authorities announced on Tuesday, without giving more details on the exact causes.
The Prime Minister of Lebanon, Hassan Diab, denounced the "catastrophe", assuring that those responsible should "be held accountable".
Among the victims of the blasts were former Montreal resident Nazar Najarian, a businessman who served as general secretary of the Kataeb party.
"It's pretty hard to believe, he was an exceptional man, a great man," reacted Montrealer of Lebanese origin Lamia Charlebois, who described him as a friend.
"It turned black"
Images shot at various locations in the Lebanese capital show dense smoke rising from the port of Beirut, through which flashes of light and flames erupt. A powerful explosion then occurs, lifting water from the sea and creating a thick cloud in the sky.
Grace, who did not want to give her last name, was returning from the beach with a friend when the explosion occurred. Driving her car, she had just passed the harbor, stuck in a traffic jam.
"I saw people taking pictures [le port] and I said to myself, 'it's commonplace', I thought it was just a small fire", said the worker in the field. old education of 41 years.
Not even a minute later, it turned black as evening, then it was daylight, and there was the explosion. I thought it was something Earth and we were all going to die.
Grace
She and her friend got away physically unharmed. "I thanked God, I looked at my friend and I was crying and laughing at the same time, without realizing it, saying, 'We are not dead.' My friend didn't say anything, she was in shock, "said the woman, a tremolo in her voice.
The explosion was so strong that it was felt for several kilometers, as told to La Presse
various people on site.
Abdallah Sfeir, student of 24 years old, lives in a village about 21 km north of town, in the mountains, but still felt the blast of the blast.
"I was watching television, with the windows open, because it was hot, and I heard something, like air coming in suddenly," he confided on the phone. I knew something was wrong. "
The explosion blew the glass out of the windows for several kilometers around. "With us, the windows were open, but there is a lot of broken glass all around," testified Cyrine Farhat, who lives in the southern suburbs.
Rescue challenge
The scale of the repercussions added to the challenges of relief. Agence France-Presse reported scores of residents, some injured, walking to the city's hospitals.
"There are not a lot of ambulances, there are a huge number of injured. With the blackouts, traffic is difficult, "said Wajdi Ghorayeb. This former aid worker during the Lebanese war, now living in Quebec, is president of the Support Committee for the Lebanese Red Cross. Tuesday's news brought back "bad memories."
A loud explosion like that, there is a lot of falling material, wood, metal, broken windows, it affects the tires, it's difficult to move.
Wajdi Ghorayeb
He was in contact with his family, who live in a neighborhood near the city center. Like many Lebanese in the diaspora, he tried to reach his relatives as soon as the first information was released.
The explosion seemed stronger than the one experienced during the war, according to her recollection.
The pandemic adds to the difficulties of the care provided to the injured. "The challenge is the lack of resources," noted Lionel Haddad, former crisis management coordinator in Lebanon, now based in Quebec. And people don't have time to put on personal protective equipment, they have to deal with it quickly. "
He did not want to go into the possible causes, but felt that there seemed to have been an eruption of a "nitrogen compound". "At first glance, what you can say is that it's a disaster," he said. We try to understand what is going on. "
Lebanon already in a crisis situation
Lebanon has already been struggling for several months with its worst economic crisis in decades, as inflation has caused commodity prices to jump and large numbers of people have lost their homes. employment.
"I don't know why so many things are happening," Abdallah Sfeir said. The year 2005 is catastrophic. With the political crisis, the economic crisis, the COVID, the port which is now destroyed... [...] I don't know what awaits us. "
He remembers the resounding attack by Rafic Hariri in the city center in 972, who had made 19 dead and more than 154 injured. "But I had never heard anything like [mardi] before, it was by far the most terrifying explosion," said the young man.
PHOTO JOSEPH BARRAK, FRANCE-PRESS AGENCY
Policeman at the site of the explosion that killed ex-Prime Minister of Lebanon Rafiq Hariri on 11 February 2005
In the last week, the tone had risen between Israel and Lebanese Hezbollah. "Israel has nothing to do with this event," a government source told AFP on condition of anonymity. The Jewish state on Tuesday evening offered humanitarian aid to Lebanon, a neighboring country with which it is technically at war.
The Lebanese Prime Minister had appealed to "friendly countries" to help Lebanon earlier today.
"Canadians are wholeheartedly with the Lebanese today," said Prime Minister of Canada Justin Trudeau, adding, "We are ready to help you."
The President of the Republic, Emmanuel Macron, announced the delivery of "French aid and resources" to Beirut.
On the side of the United States, President Donald Trump has also said that his country "stands ready" to help.
- With Agence France-Presse