In a shocking incident, a huge explosion caused extensive damage in the Lebanese capital Beirut. The explosion was in force of an earthquake on Tuesday, accompanied by a shock wave that blew out windows. As per a Lebanese Red Cross official, George Kettaneh, the death toll could rise higher with at least 100 people were killed and more than 4,000 injured. Also, Minister of Health Hassan Hamad had previously confirmed at least 70 deaths.
فيديو آخر – لحظة حدوث انفجار ضخم في مرفأ #بيروت pic.twitter.com/C62srAfTnx
— وكالة شهاب (@ShehabAgency) August 4, 2020
Hospitals were flooded with injured people, pushing them beyond reach. Health authorities have called for blood donations. According to Germany’s geoscience centre GFZ, the explosion, which struck with the force of a 3.5 magnitude earthquake, followed a fire which broke out in the port area of the city, based on multiple videos from the scene. While the cause of the explosion still officially determine, President Donald Trump calls it a “terrible attack” base on U.S. generals’ assumptions that he had not identified. Abbas Ibrahim, Lebanese General Security chief, state the explosion trigger by highly explosive material that stores at the port after it seizes from a container.
Timothy McVeigh killed 168 people in a domestic terrorism event that shocked America by producing a two-ton ammonium nitrate bomb combined with fuel oil to explode the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City in 1995. After the explosion, that is consistent with a nitrate-related explosion, footage showed an orange cloud over Beirut ‘s port.
Global Tragedy
The force shook buildings again hit by the shock wave which shattered windows, sending shards of glass flying through the air. Beirut Gov. Marwan Abboud called it a “global tragedy,” and according to CNN, the prime minister declared it a day of mourning.
Israel, which has seen years of sporadic conflict with Lebanon, particularly and lately with Hezbollah, has denied involvement and provided humanitarian medical assistance. France and the special coordinator for the United Nations have provided humanitarian assistance. In Lebanon, the United Nations Interim Force state some of its naval peacekeepers critically wound in the explosion. One of its ships dock in the port damaging, states UNFIL.
Online videos showed a dark haze rising from the port. As usually expect from a fire in an industrial area. This follows an explosion, which creates a huge white cloud enveloping the city. The shock-wave struck a moment later. The explosion, occurring shortly after 6 p.m. Local time, the wailing of emergency sirens follow by streets littered with rubble.
The Beirut explosion recalled the twin explosions in the Chinese port of Tianjin in 2015. It killed at least 50 people and wounded more than 700. The second one was the larger of the two, the equivalent of an estimated 21 tons of TNT. Beirut has suffered bloodshed from suicide attacks, military strife with neighbouring Israel and civil war in the last few decades.
