Tuesday, August 4, 2020

Beirut Port Explosion : The Cost of negligence “or Warehouse 12 of hell ”

2020 won’t be an easy or unforgettable year by all measures as it seems

In case you do not know the news yet, the Lebanese capital Beirut was rocked by huge multiple explosions at the Port of Beirut. The explosions that shocked the city to the core killed at least 78 people and injured over 4,000 people.

The explosions happened at 6.30 PM Beirut Local Time when multiple explosions took place at a warehouse in the port. At first, it was reported that it took place at a fireworks warehouse but it was soon debunked.

According to the Lebanese Prime Minister Hasan Diab, the explosion happened at a warehouse that stored explosives and chemicals specifically Ammonium Nitrate.

After the explosions in Beirut Port by AFP
After the explosions in Beirut Port by AFP 


The Lebanese officials say that the warehouse stored 2,700 tonnes of ammonium nitrate, which is equivalent to 600 tonnes of TNT for nearly 6 years !!

It is unclear yet what caused the first explosion or fire that led to multiple fires.

The Lebanese High Council of Defense declared a state of emergency for two weeks as well as Beirut as “Disaster City”.

The situation is more than horrible according to citizens and reporters online.

Warehouse 12 in the Port of Beirut or the bloody cargo of m/v Rhosus

The story of Black Tuesday’s explosions started on 23/9/2013 when M/V Rhosus flying a Moldavian flag sailed from Batumi Port, Georgia heading to Beira port in Mozambique carrying a cargo of 2,750 tons of Ammonium Nitrate.

Due to technical problems, the Rhosus stopped at Beirut Port and upon inspection by the Lebanese authority, it was forbidden to continue its voyage because of its highly explosive cargo.

The cargo was transported later to warehouse 12.

Nobody understands why the Lebanese officials let a highly explosive material like that for 6 years in a civilian port in a civilian area.

But one thing for sure that it is the responsibility of the successive cabinets since 2013.

According to Egyptian Journalist Siyad Torky, Lebanon had 4 PM since then: Najib Mikati “2011-2014”, Tammam Salam “2014-2016”, Saad El-Hariri “2016-2020” and Hasan Diab currently.

Here is a video of Diab lifting the Lebanese flags that fell due to the explosions at the Cabinet HQ in Downtown Beirut.

There is huge negligence, huge corruption in the case.

Negligence and corruption can bring down nations to their knees without terrorism or invasions.

Without a doubt, those explosions will increase the political tension in a highly polarized nation.

A soldier watches a military helicopter trying to put off the fire at Beirut Port 
"AFP"

A disaster recorded on Video

Because we live in the age of social media and video recording via mobile phones, the moment of the explosions was recorded and the whole world saw it in a shock.

Most people recorded the second explosion, which is the biggest. The first one caught their attention. 

Here is the closest footage recorded for the explosion and I hope that the video shooter is okay. 

Here is the moment of the bigger explosion recorded from another angle.

Another angle for the explosion.

Recording the moment from the sea at warehouse 12 itself. 


From 10 km away from the explosion site. 

The young man who recorded it is still alive, thank God.

The sad news is that the delivery guy who appeared in the video is still missing

A family records the moments of the explosion.

A kid is heard praying to God that he did not want to die.

Here is the moment of the bigger explosion taking place as a BBC Arabic reporter was interviewing a Moroccan official via video online.

Here are the moments of the explosion captured on camera in a church while a priest was having an online mass due to coronavirus outbreak. 

Here is the moment of the explosion as recorded during a wedding photoshoot session. 

Here is the moment of the explosion, this time from a house at Corniche Al-Mazra'a area. 

Here are the moments of the explosion, this time a domestic worker saves the day for real. 

Recording the moment while driving. 
Here are the moments of the explosions as recorded on a supermarket CCTV.

A disaster impact 

Jordan and Cyprus recorded the aftershocks of the explosion as earthquakes. The explosion was recorded in Jordan as 4.5-degree-earthquake on Richter scale !! This is how strong it was.

Yellowish smoke cloud has allegedly arrived in South Lebanon, Cyprus and Syria !!

I am not a chemist or chemicals expert but I read online that this was Nitrogen dioxide.

The US embassy in Beirut called the citizens to wear masks to avoid the effects of those crazy chemicals in the sky.

Almost all the friends I know living in Beirut are safe but homes are not. All of them got their windows shattered and smashed in a scary away regardless of how far they lived away from the port. 

Beirut is already suffering from another hot summer without electricity in a terrible economic crisis where people exchange goods in time of coronavirus pandemic.

It is like the last thing Lebanon needs now.

First of all, Beirut and Lebanon can have a food or rather wheat crisis because I have read that the explosions happened in the area where imported wheat is stored and now the whole area is damaged there.

Beirut’s health sector is already suffering and barely can sustain itself during the coronavirus pandemic. I follow Lebanon’s coronavirus numbers and I believe they are already increasing not decline.

This photo went viral showing a nurse or a doctor looking after 3 babies in a Beirut hospital
after the explosion by Bilal Jawich

Already hospitals can’t serve all those numbers of injured especially those hospitals that were damaged due to the power of the explosions and aftershocks.

The Lebanese Red Cross is calling Lebanese people to donate blood in all its centres already.

Several hotels are offering shelter for the people who can’t spend the night at their homes.

This won’t be the end of Beirut or Lebanon, Beirut is like Cairo. They get sick but never die.

God bless Lebanon and the Lebanese people.

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1 comment:

  1. Jason8/09/2020 05:18:00 AM

    Holy shit, that was a big explosion. Thank you, Z, for your roundup on this. Great job.

    ReplyDelete

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