© Taavi Sundell
The family of Finnish Taavi Sundell was only a few kilometers away from the powerful Beirut explosion. The biggest concern in the situation was the fear of a possible new explosion.
Taavi Sundell, a researcher at the Finnish Middle East Institute, had just arrived home from work when he exploded in Beirut. A massive explosion damaged the Sundell family home, three miles away.
– We sat there with his wife and 4-year-old boy on the living room couch and wondered what he would do in the evening.
– First we heard a sound that sounded to our ears that the plane had flown over. It didn’t take many seconds when the windows then exploded inside. Then in a panic we ran to the bathroom, Sundell recalls.
The story continues after the pictures.
© Edited by MTV
The windows shattered at Sundell’s family home.
© Edited by MTV
Sundell and his family live about three miles from the blast zone.
Sundell says the most frightening of the situation was the uncertainty about the source of the explosion.
– That moment went away for fear of exploding again.
The situation was monitored on television and telephones
The family next moved from the toilet to the outdoors. There they saw their landlord living downstairs, to whom they went to monitor the situation.
– Downstairs, the TV was turned on and everyone picked up the phones. Everyone started to follow and communicate. We tried to get an idea of what had happened.
Sundell recalls being relieved when a suspicion arose that it was an accident.
Buildings in the area were damaged
Although the blast occurred miles from the Sundell residential area, the area was still badly damaged. Sundell says the streets were full of shards of glass and the balconies were pliable.
– What you have now seen in the pictures and what you have seen in this outdoor neighborhood, then the fact that we went to the windows means that we were lucky. Survived pretty little damage though.
The story continues after the pictures.
© Edited by MTV
The facades of several buildings were damaged in the Sundell residential area.
© Edited by MTV
The streets were full of shards of glass.
Sundell moved with his family to Beirut in January 2019. During that time, they have not experienced anything like it.
– It’s not everyday like this for myself, so it must have been a shock.
– Perhaps the biggest attempt today is to get the boy’s thoughts elsewhere. We have a 4-year-old boy who is unfortunately old enough to have already realized that something miraculous and sad was happening now, says Sundell.
Watch the full interview in the video above.