Mckenna Omoruyi
Staff Reporter
The unexpected horrors in Beirut, the capital of Lebanon, began on a normal Tuesday night on August 4th. An explosion leveled a large part of the city causing devastating damage and leaving many homeless. In the first blast 154 people lost their lives and more than 5,000 people were injured. The search for survivors is continuing. Over 1,000 people have been hospitalized and according to Lebanon’s health minister, Hammad Hassan, 120 people are currently in critical condition as of Friday.
The second, and most devastating blast, could be felt as far as the island of Cyprus over two hundred forty kilometers away from the main city on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean. According to the prime minister, Hassan Diab, “ The official causes of the explosion are still unknown by local and official authorities. It is believed that the second explosion came from a nearby 2,750-ton stockpile of ammonium nitrate.” Ammonium Nitrate is a highly explosive chemical often used in fertilizers and mining explosives. It is an oxidizer that can accelerate the ignition and combustion of flammable material and containments. There are strict rules and guidelines for how it is to be stored safely. Diab says it had been stored in that location for over six years.
Investigators are actively trying to figure out the causes of these explosions. There is some speculation that external interference may have been involved since the ammonium nitrate that exploded came from a Russian owned vessel that stopped in Beirut back in 2013.
The governor of Beirut, Marwan Abound, told reporters on Wednesday that the expected cost to rectify the damage is suspected to be around 3 billion dollars. The World Health Organization,The United Nations Children's Fund, and the United Nations Children's Agency have all actively been applying emergency aid to Lebanon and those affected by this tragedy.
Image Credit: Ryan Pickrell, Charles Davis, and Sinéad Baker
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