© Anwar Amro
More than a hundred people have been killed and nearly 4,000 injured in two huge explosions in the port of Beirut in Lebanon. The number of casualties may still rise significantly as rescue and clearance work was still underway early on Wednesday.
According to Wednesday’s estimates, the explosion was caused by a fire in the port, which ignited a huge amount of 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate in another warehouse. According to unconfirmed information, ammonium nitrate was once seized from a ship that entered the port.
News Channel CNN’s interviewed by retired explosives expert Anthony May, however, questioned the theory based on the images he saw. According to May, the red mushroom cloud seen after the explosion is not compatible with ammonium nitrate, because then the mushroom cloud should be yellow.
“I don’t deny that ammonium nitrate could be involved in this, but there seem to have been other substances involved,” May said.
According to May, the force of the explosion was so enormous that it corresponded to a kilotonne of nuclear explosive.
“According to our information, no nuclear material was involved, but the pressure wave and destructive power of the explosion correspond to a small nuclear weapon,” May continued.
Seismologists estimate that the explosion corresponded to an earthquake with a magnitude of 3.3.
Also read: Incredible video 10 kilometers from the Beirut blast site: A ghost-looking smoke ball instantly causes a huge wave of pressure
Is this the reason for the Beirut explosion? Attempts were made to seal the warehouse – containing 2750 tonnes of flammable ammonium nitrate
“Everyone who can will leave the country”
Rami Rifai, 38, who was caring for his two daughters in the hospital, was inconsolable.
– Gloomy times have been experienced in Lebanon in the past, but not like this. We are in the midst of an economic crisis, the government is full of thieves and then there is still the coronavirus. I didn’t think the situation could get any worse, but I don’t know if the country will rise from this anymore, Rifai said.
“Everyone who can will try to leave the country, and so do I.” Rifai continued, swallowing his tears.
Real estate agent Johnny Assaf said he lost everything except his life in the accident.
– I first saw a cloud of mushrooms, and then the force of the explosion flew me to the other side of the office, where I hit my head on the printer. In the sick, my head was quilted without anesthesia, and the quilting was also interrupted because more seriously injured people were brought there all the time. I saw people die in front of me, Assaf repeated.
In its headline, the Lebanese magazine L’Orient-Le Jour briefly described the events as the end of the world.
One Finn was injured
According to the Finnish Ministry for Foreign Affairs, one Finn was slightly injured in the explosions. The ministry has reached a total of 18 Finns. None of those reached said they needed help. Eight of those reached are in the country and ten are not.
The office space of the Finnish mission was completely damaged by the explosion. There was no one inside the embassy at the time of the accident. A total of 40 Finns have made a travel declaration to Lebanon, 12 of whom have specified that they are in Beirut.
Finnish President Sauli Niinistö expressed his condolences to the Lebanese state leadership, the families of the victims and all those affected by the tragic explosion in Beirut, says the Office of the President of the Republic on Twitter.
According to Lebanese President Michel Aoun, the country’s government will meet in an emergency session on Wednesday. According to Aoun, a two-week state of emergency should be declared for the country.
According to the president, the government will immediately provide 100 billion Lebanese pounds (about 56 million euros) in emergency aid to repair the damage caused by the accident. The president declared a three-day mourning period for the country.
– This is a shocking disaster. Victims are everywhere, said the Lebanese Red Cross spokesman George Kettani, according to the BBC.
UN peacekeepers were injured in a ship in port
UN peacekeepers have been injured in the accident, says the UN peacekeeping operation Unifil. Some of them are seriously injured.
Unifil does not tell us the exact number of injuries. Unifil’s ship was moored in the harbor when the explosion occurred in the early evening. The ship was damaged in the explosion.
Employees of the German embassy were also injured in the accident, says the German Foreign Ministry. The embassy near the port was damaged by the explosion. The ministry adds that German citizens cannot yet be excluded from the deaths and injuries.