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Beirut redoubles rescue efforts; patients continue to surge to exhausted hospitals

As rescue efforts continue in Beirut following Tuesday's explosion, a wave of new patients seek care at damaged, overworked hospitals.
Lebanese and French rescuers search for victims or survivors amidst the rubble of a building in the Gemayzeh neighbourhood on August 6, 2020, two days after a massive explosion in the Beirut port shook the capital. - The blast caused massive destruction and killed at least 113 people, heaping misery on a country in crisis. (Photo by - / AFP) (Photo by -/AFP via Getty Images)

Rescue efforts began almost immediately after Tuesday’s massive explosion rocked Beirut and its surrounding area, in total affecting over 2 million people, in a crisis that has flooded already overworked hospital staff.

On Wednesday, residents began clearing glass and rubble strewn across the city, sweeping popular streets and neighborhoods in places such as Gemayzeh and Mar Mikhael. They helped clear the path for rescue workers to begin searching for missing people.

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