Beirut death toll rises to at least 100 as explosion is blamed on 2,750-ton ammonium nitrate stash

Beirut’s residents are in shock and grieving after a massive explosion at the city’s port ripped through the Lebanese capital, killing at least 100 and injuring more than 4,000. Healthcare facilities are overwhelmed, with some too wounded by the blast to operate. Beirut authorities consequently revealed an investigation to figure out within five days the specific cause of the explosion and who was responsible.

The explosion, which blew out windows and ruined property for miles around, has been initially blamed on 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate saved in an unsecured storage facility at Beirut’s freight port. Firefighters spray water at a fire after an explosion was heard in Beirut, Lebanon August 4, 2020. Beirut will not rest till it finds the individual responsible for what occurred, to hold him accountable, and enforce the most serious penalties.

It was unacceptable that such a volume of the explosive chemical had existed for 6 years in a storage facility without any preventive measures. It was not immediately clear what ignited the volatile material. The chemical is commonly used as fertilizer, but is likewise a component in mining explosives when combined with fuel oil and detonated by an explosive charge.

It was used in the 1995 bombing of the federal structure in Oklahoma City, killing 168 people.

Ammonium nitrate can also combust when contacted with an extreme fire, which seemed burning in a part of the Beirut port prior to the huge surge. Beirut lost its people and its city. Lots of people were hurt, with some still searching for family members. Local media video and videos published to social media following the blast showed bloodied individuals walking through debris-strewn streets.

Medical personnel needed to treat clients in car park as hospitals exceeded capability. And many more victims stay missing. By Wednesday morning, an Instagram page called “LocateVictimsBeirut” where homeowners post images of their missing family and friends, had amassed 63,500 fans. People were bleeding from their head, their arms, everywhere. People shouting in misery.

It is apocalyptic. There is no other word to explain it. The immediate crisis in homelessness, health, overloaded medical services, and ruined property on top of an already-crippled economy will only speed up federal government collapse. Any recovery for Beirut now will be tough. The government’s credibility is decreasing, and majority of the public no longer thinks the federal government is able to manage.

This is the last thing a city like Beirut needs right now.

This accelerates motion towards collapse of the current federal government. The financial crisis will also deepen. Disaster amid currently historical crisis. The catastrophe hit a city currently reeling from crisis and laden with domestic and local political stress. Lebanon is facing its worst financial crisis since its civil war, with increasing inflation and unemployment, and a currency in totally free fall.

And this was all prior to the covid pandemic hit. Now, locals are having a hard time to pay for food and standard items, with upset protesters decrying federal government inactiveness and corruption. The nation has actually also defaulted on its sovereign financial obligation, and Lebanon’s debt-to-GDP of more than 150% is the third-highest worldwide.

A shortage of dollars in the nation has actually led banks to restrict withdrawals, leaving its people not able to access their money. Talks with the International Monetary Fund over an emergency bailout plan broke down last month. The 4 suspects in the trial are all members of Hezbollah, the Iran-backed Shiite paramilitary and political group widely viewed as the most powerful political party in Lebanon.

Hezbollah is designated a terrorist company by the U.S. government.

The small Mediterranean country is also home to more than 1.5 million Syrian refugees. Endemic state corruption, collapsing infrastructure, regular power cuts, a pollution crisis, and federal government failure to offer fundamental services caused nationwide protests that started in October and continue in different iterations. On Monday, Lebanon’s foreign minister resigned, criticizing the federal government’s lack of action and will to fix the nation’s financial issues.

And the port explosion came as tensions simmered ahead of a U.N. tribunal decision on Friday on the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in a truck bombing in 2005.