At least 100 people were reported dead and 4,000 were injured following a deadly explosion at the Beirut Capital of Lebanon on Tuesday night the 4th of August 2020. The explosion has destroyed buildings, ripped windows and doors of surrounding infrastructure, the explosion traveled and affected 10 kilometres (6 Miles) scale distance leaving 300,000 homeless and the damage is said to range from $3-5 Billion and more
It is still unclear on what might have triggered the explosion. Prime minister Hassan Diab has launched an official investigation to comb out the cause of the tragedy. The Minister has rubbed off the initial suspected cause of the explosion which was a fire that broke in a firecracker warehouse near the city center as reported by state media, the Minister has however switched his focus to investigate a ware house that stored highly explosive 2.750 metrics tons of Ammonium Nitrate for 6 years without safety control, the chemical is commonly used as fertilizer in Agriculture. Authorities are still working to locate the cause of the explosion.
Robert Baer a former CIA operative has claimed that Military Ammunition might have caused the massive explosion not the Ammonium Nitrate, pointing visible evidence such as the Orange balls of flame that erupted to the sky during the explosion, which he says it was Military explosives, and also acknowledging that the White powder indicated that Ammonium Nitrate was also present.
Four hospitals are not operating in the city as a result of the explosion. The Russian Ministry is sending Medical support, which includes Medical doctors and Medical equipment to build a temporary field hospital. A team of Search and Rescue is deployed by the Russian Ministry to assist in retrieving bodies and possible survivors as some people are still missing. The search still continues and investigation to what caused the blast are underway.
World leaders have reacted to the tragedy that has fallen to the Beirut City. Boris Johnson said in a statement on Twitter that all the pictures and videos from Beirut were shocking and that his thoughts and prayers were with those caught up in the terrible incident. Pope Francis offered prayers for the victims. US president Donald Trump was slammed for his “Lebanon explosion looks like a terrible attack” claims.Countries like France,Australia,Iran and Turkey have offered their assistance in different forms to show solidarity.
