Beirut resident Hoda Melki captures the moment her mother plays Auld Lang Syne on the piano among the debris and damage of her apartment, a day after a major explosion in Lebanon's capital. The blast killed 135 people, injured 5,000 and damaged the houses of up to 300,000 after ripping through Beirut's port
‘Do you really think Hiroshima could have been worse than this?’ asked one man on an agonising Lebanese day
The twisted and mangled heap of steel that used to be Beirut’s port stretched to both horizons; to the left, battered skyscrapers seemed hunched in defeat and an empty highway strewn with wrecked cars led through a heat haze the other way.
A traffic barrier was covered in the bloody handprints of those who had somehow survived the cataclysmic blast and had staggered into the apocalyptic aftermath.
Continue reading...Beirut's port district was left a tangled wreck following a warehouse explosion on Tuesday that killed at least 100 people and injured thousands. The port area is the country's main route for imports, which are vital to help to feed a nation of more than 6 million people
Drone footage courtesy of Anthony Rahayel, KT Drones, Getty Images and the AP.
Continue reading...Footage filmed during a Beirut church's livestream shows the moment it was struck by the blast while a priest was delivering mass. The cleric can be seen fleeing as debris and stained-glass windows fall from above. At least 100 people were killed and 4,000 injured by the explosion in the city's port area
A bride in Beirut was filmed posing for photographs moments before a massive explosion ripped through the city's port and surrounding areas, killing at least 100 people and injuring thousands more.
Israa Seblani, 29, was outside Le Gray Hotel, where she and husband, Ahmad Subeih, had planned to spend their first night as newlyweds, when the blast hit. In the video, filmed by Mahmoud Nakib, Seblani was seen running away from the scene with those around her, later telling reporters: 'It was not describable the devastation and the sound of the explosion. We are still in shock'.
The deadly explosion has been blamed on thousands of tonnes of the chemical ammonium nitrate, which had been lying unsecured in a warehouse since 2014
Continue reading...Lebanon is in mourning and surveying the damage to its capital, Beirut, after a massive explosion ripped through the city’s port and surrounding areas on Tuesday. At least 100 people were killed and 4,000 injured, with many still feared trapped under rubble
Continue reading...Aerial video captures the devastating impact of the explosion that left dozens dead and thousands injured in the Lebanese capital. The full scale of the blast is yet to be felt as rescue efforts continued the morning after the explosion flattened much of the city's port
Continue reading...Beirut’s mayor, Jamal Itani, struggled to describe what he saw as he toured parts of the Lebanese capital the day after an explosion killed at least 100 people. Footage from the blast zone showed extensive damage, with residents moving through rubble and cleaning up broken glass and overturned furniture in their homes
The US president Donald Trump says an explosion that killed dozens of people in Lebanon's capital, Beirut, looks like an attack. 'We will be there to help. It looks like a terrible attack,' he said at a press briefing. Trump was later asked why he called the explosion an attack, not an accident, saying he met with generals who felt it was 'a bomb of some kind'
Continue reading...Beirut has been rocked by a huge explosion, devastating parts of the city and injuring thousands of people. Eyewitness footage shared widely on social media showed a section of the city's port area on fire before a huge blast engulfed nearby neighbourhoods, flattening buildings and leaving streets littered with broken glass and debris.
The Lebanese security chief, Abbas Ibrahim, later blamed combustible chemicals stored in a warehouse. Lebanon's prime minister, Hassan Diab, said those responsible would 'pay a price' for the disaster.
Lebanon PM Hassan Diab appeals for international assistance as search continues for missing in devastated city
The French Presidency has just confirmed that Emmanuel Macron will to travel to Beirut tomorrow (Thursday).
Pallets of aid are being loaded in Dubai to be flown to Beirut:
23 tonnes of aid will be sent via air to Beirut from the World Health Organisation warehouse in Dubai.
Items include medical trauma kits carrying syringes, bandages and gauze @TheNationalUAE pic.twitter.com/JoYpfklQDd
Two large explosions have devastated Lebanon's capital city, Beirut. Footage taken in the immediate aftermath shows windows blown out, streets littered with debris and cars upturned by the strength of the blasts. The impact was reportedly felt 200km away in Cyprus
Lebanese capital in state of chaos as people grapple with scale of blast that has injured thousands
As a ghostly brown haze began to clear, the streets of east Beirut emerged in apocalyptic ruin. Even 4km from the centre of the blast each building had lost some, if not all, of its windows. It was just after 6pm. Smoke, dispersed with pockets of pink gas, shrouded some of the carnage. Huge shards of glass covered roads – some jagged pieces had ripped through cars. Trees were shredded, and pools of blood formed puddles in the streets.
Continue reading...An explosion has rocked central Beirut in Lebanon, shattering windows and shaking buildings for several hundred feet. The source of the blast is still unclear
Video circulating on social media shows a massive explosion rocking central Beirut - shattering windows, knocking down doors and shaking buildings several hundred feet away.
Lebanon’s health minister told journalists a ship carrying fireworks had blown up in the port, though the size of the blast heard across the country raised suspicions it might have resulted from a rocket strike or detonation of explosives - deliberate or otherwise. The source of the blast has not been confirmed
Continue reading...Scenes of economic despair are visible across Lebanon – from shops to homes, businesses to hospitals. Guardian journalist Martin Chulov discusses why the country is verging on financial collapse
Across all pockets of a country conditioned to hardship over decades of war and tumult, the effects of a catastrophic economic implosion were evident when the Guardian’s Middle East correspondent Martin Chulov took a road trip across Lebanon. Since March, the prices of most goods have nearly tripled, while the value of the national currency has fallen by 80% and much of the country has ground to a halt. Those who still have work are surviving month to month. Poverty is soaring, crime is rising, and streets are incendiary. The country has defaulted on one bond payment and a second is due soon.
Martin tells Rachel Humphreys about how government corruption and financial mismanagement have lead to Lebanon finding itself on the brink of financial collapse.
Continue reading...Prices of most goods have nearly tripled and the value of the national currency is plummeting
From her wedding dress shop in the impoverished northern Lebanese town of Akkar, Suzanne Hammoud has been selling bridal gowns for more than 15 years. She has revelled in her customers’ excitement as their weddings approached, and often stayed in touch as their lives progressed, sometimes making outfits for their children.
But this year, Hammoud has become more of a buyer than a seller of dresses. Sales racks are full of gowns she has bought back from families who have no other means of income left, except for selling their memories.
Continue reading...A unique platform lets teachers from Venezuela to Syria to Burundi earn a living teaching their language online
Louisa Waugh and Ghaith Alhallak have met for language lessons in seven countries. “We counted it up the other day,” says Waugh, recalling the list of places from which she has video-called Alhallak: Britain, Mali, Senegal and Greece. Alhallak has answered from Lebanon, France and Italy, where he is now studying for a master’s degree in political science at the University of Padua.
“You just need a connection,” he says.
Continue reading...There were violent scenes as protesters took to the streets across the country for the third consecutive day
Hundreds of demonstrators angered by a deepening economic crisis rallied across Lebanon for a third consecutive day on Saturday, after violent overnight riots sparked condemnation from the political elite.
Protesting against the surging cost of living and the government’s apparent impotence in the face of Lebanon’s worst economic turmoil since the 1975-1990 civil war, protesters in central Beirut brandished flags and chanted anti-government slogans.
Continue reading...Marches held on streets of Sweida amid soaring food prices and disillusion with corruption
A town in regime-controlled Syria is set for fresh protests this weekend as a burgeoning economic crisis engulfing even Bashar al-Assad’s most loyal supporters is now posing the biggest challenge to his grip on the country in years.
Food is now more expensive than at any other time during the nine-year conflict, triggering scenes reminiscent of the Arab spring protests of 2011 on the streets of the nominally government-loyal town of Sweida this week.
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