STUDENT REPORTER

Jasmine Hastings Year 7

Beirut Explosion:

By Jasmine Hastings

Link to explosion video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oKFupx9x0-k

Support Lebanon and donate: https://supportlrc.app/donate/index.html

August 4th, 2020, disaster struck in the northern part of Port Beirut Lebanon in the Middle East. The exact cause is unknown. Whilst Donald Trump believes it was most likely an attack, the most reasonable explanation was due to the 2700 tons of Ammonium Nitrate being stored at the Beirut Port warehouse, even though Ammonium Nitrate is not a flammable substance. However, there was a nearby fire, which could make the massive stockpile of ammonium nitrate a combust when stored in a confined space, which then causes it to release hot gas. This can cause a lot of pressure and due to that build up, a massive explosion.

This explosion was described as “nuclear like”, and the blast reached 5 miles away (9Km). It was also heard from as far away a Cyprus. This massive explosion came in 2 blasts, the second one bigger than the last. 6,200 is the current estimate on how many buildings were destroyed, and a lot of people lost their homes. Many people where filming at the time and the video footage is unlike anything you have ever seen before.

Lebanon was already a place of protest where they did not trust their government, but this has sent citizens over the edge and now they are questioning their safety a lot more. The storage pile, or Ammonium Nitrate, had been there for 6 years without anyone knowing and now the citizens of Lebanon think the government is trying to hide something. This has caused a few protests to pop-up all-over Lebanon.

Seismologists at the United States Geological Survey say this horrific explosion is the equivalent to a 3.3 magnitude earthquake. For a lot of people, the stress of this is still going on with 300,000 homes destroyed. With nothing left to salvage, some people have huge financial problems right now. There is a way we can help; the Red Cross has made a donation website that you can donate to. This will help deal with the money for emergency calls, rebuilds, and help some of the citizens in Beirut.

Our thoughts and prayers go to the families in Beirut and the people who are missing loved ones. Due to the damage this explosion has caused, there are still a lot of missing people that have not been found yet. At least 220 people were confirmed dead and over 6000 severely injured. Scott Morrison said that due to corona virus there was 1 Australian trapped in Lebanon during the explosion, sadly resulting in their passing. This is a difficult time for all the Beirut and Lebanon families, please donate if you can.