Lebanon's Chernobyl moment
On the evening of Aug. 4, Beirut witnessed an unprecedented explosion that ruined a large part of the city, injuring thousands and killing many.
A deadly time machine took Lebanon’s capital back in history to the scenes of its notorious civil war that lasted from 1975 until 1990. An unprecedented massive explosion at Beirut's port on the evening of Aug. 4 destroyed almost half the city, according to Beirut Gov. Marwan Abboud, who burst into tears while speaking on camera.
The blast left at least 100 people dead and over 4,000 injured, according to the latest toll released by the Red Cross.
Abboud likened the blast to those of Nagasaki and Hiroshima in Japan during World War II; video footage on social media showed a blast that was nothing like the country has witnessed over the past century during various tragic events.
In the southern village of Haris, located nearly 60 miles southeast of Beirut, a Lebanese man told Al-Monitor that he had heard the blast. Mohammed, who asked to be indentified only by his first name, said he first thought the explosion was related to the recent tensions on the southern border between Lebanon and Israel. When he saw what had happened in Beirut on the news, he “realized this was the same explosion as in Beirut’s port. I never ever thought I would hear a blast 100 kilometers away occuring in the capital. It is frightening.”
