The cause is unclear but the government said “highly explosive materials” had been stored at the blast scene in the Lebanese capital. Lebanon’s interior minister said it appeared that a large cache of ammonium nitrate in the port had detonated.The sudden devastation overwhelmed a country already struggling with both the coronavirus pandemic and a severe economic and financial crisis. Shards of glass from a shattered window ripped into the face and body of one of them, a father who was visiting his child. Videos showed only twisted metal and chunks of concrete where that warehouse had been, some of it identifiable as the remains of trucks and shipping containers.The severity of the explosions recalled the days when bombings and mayhem were a regular fact of life in Beirut, both during its 1975-1990 civil war and its aftermath, including sporadic conflicts between Israel and Hezbollah.Another bombing in Lebanon upended Middle East politics in February of 2005, when Rafik Hariri, a former prime minister, was killed along with 21 others by a car bombing of his motorcade.The attack was blamed by many on Hezbollah, a Shiite militia and political party, and its ally, Syria, which had deployed troops in Lebanon for nearly three decades.

They said hundreds of thousands of doses, used to supply health centers across Lebanon, were stored on tall shelves in the warehouse, in an area where other buildings were badly damaged.Inside St. George Hospital, about six-tenths of a mile from the explosion, “everything just fell down, the windows destroyed, the ceiling in pieces,” Dr. Noun said. Beirut explosion: Lebanon security forces fire teargas at protesters as anger mounts Published: 7 Aug 2020 Lebanon information minister quits in first cabinet resignation since blast Il est possible de remarquer de multiples petites détonations à l'intérieur même de la base de la colonne de fumée. I am totally lost,” he said.Confusion reigned across the city, as people cleared out of damaged homes or tried to locate family. He added that hospitals were barely coping and offers of aid were pouring in from Arab states and friends of Lebanon.Beirut’s governor, Marwan Abboud, broke into tears as he toured the site, exclaiming, “Beirut is a devastated city.” Prime Minister Hassan Diab vowed that “those responsible will pay.”At the start of a White House news conference on the coronavirus, Trump said the explosion “looks like a terrible attack.” When asked by a reporter if he was confident that it was an attack, Trump said: “I met with some of our great generals and they just seem to feel that it was.”But one of Israel’s top bomb experts, Boaz Hayoun, said fireworks could have been a factor setting off the bigger blast. Pray to God, pray to God.”The explosions hit Beirut’s northern, industrial waterfront, little more than a mile away from the Grand Serail palace, where Lebanon’s prime minister is based.

Mr. Najarian, known by the nickname Nazo, died of his injuries.“He had been through explosions, assassination attempts, wars with the Palestinians and Syrians, Nazo saw it all,” said He said the party was waiting for clarity on whether the blast was an attack, the kind of crude tool used for decades to shape Lebanon’s political landscape, or just an accident resulting from mismanagement. Uneasily, naïvely, I ran to the window, then back to my desk to check for news.Then came a much bigger boom, and the sound itself seemed to splinter. Outside the St. George University Hospital in Beirut’s Achrafieh neighborhood, people with various injuries arrived in ambulances, in cars and on foot. A ship carrying about 2,000 tons of the compound caught fire and exploded in Texas City, Texas, in 1947, killing 581 people.

The result has thrown many into poverty.The disaster only drives Lebanon deeper into misery, putting thousands out of their homes. This is Joseph Haddad calling you from St. George Hospital. Cars were overturned and streets were blocked by debris, forcing many injured people to walk to hospitals.Flames continued to rise from the rubble well after the explosions, and a cloud of smoke, tinted pink in the sunset, rose thousands of feet into the sky.The larger blast was heard and felt in Cyprus, more than 100 miles away, and I was just about to look at a video a friend had sent me on Tuesday afternoon — “the port seems to be burning,” she said — when my whole building shook.