Beirut’s treatment capacity is at its limits, hospitals are damaged – “The devastation is completely incomprehensible, Lebanon will need a lot of help”





© REUTERS / Aziz Taher
The port of Beirut in the wake of the bomb

Anna Savolainen, who worked as the Deputy Head of Mission at the Finnish Embassy in Beirut, described the situation in the country’s hospitals. He said the country’s hospital capacity has been squeezed to the extreme.

Savolainen states that the explosion seems to have been so massive that the medical capacity of any city would be at its extremes. He also says that as early as Tuesday night, the medical capacity was fully utilized.

– Some of the mildly injured people could not be treated immediately after the hospitals were destroyed.

Savolainen says that Saint John’s Hospital, which is just over a kilometer from the blast site, is currently very badly damaged.

– The treatment capacity is very extreme, and I understand that people have been taken to other parts of Lebanon for treatment.

Beirut is a very densely built city. The port where the explosion took place is very central as it is located near a busy road north of Beirut. There are very popular bars, restaurants and banks in the residential area starting from the road.

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The extent of the embassy’s damage is still a mystery

The Finnish embassy was also damaged as a result of the explosion. It is located less than two kilometers from the blast site.

– The Finnish Representative Council employs a total of eight people, three of whom are Finns, Savolainen says.

The embassy is located on a single floor in a commercial apartment in an apartment building area.

– I can’t say what kind of destruction has come to the embassy.

The true extent of the devastation will become clear in the coming days

Savolainen says that his acquaintances in Beirut have sent very shocked messages, especially about the destructive power of the explosion.

– The pictures that came from there last night and this morning, then that destruction is completely incomprehensible.

What makes the explosion particularly massive is also the fact that Lebanon has gone through a long civil war and experienced several car bomb attacks. Yet the same has never been experienced.

– Many friends have said they have never experienced an explosion like this.

– Of course, many people are worried about their loved ones and, according to the Red Cross, there are still more than 100 people missing.

As a whole, the spectrum of destruction will not be known until the next few days.

Like other countries, Israel has provided humanitarian assistance to Lebanon, even though the countries have been at war with each other.

– It is really positive that Israel and other countries have reacted very quickly and offered their help. I believe that Lebanon will need a lot of help, Savolainen concludes.