The Beirut blast of 2020 hit the headlines for some time five years ago. Over 200 people died within the incident, however it was soon forgotten as just one other headline. Five years on though, its impact continues to this present day within the lives of those that survived the terrible incident.
The blast happened on 4 August 2020 when a port warehouse filled with ammonium nitrate went up in flames. The nitrate had not been stored properly and the resulting explosion killed 217 people. Thousands more were injured and around 300,000 people were displaced from their homes
The Catholic charity, Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) has been doing what it could possibly to assist the Christian survivors of the tragedy and to make their voices heard.
One woman, 78-year-old Affifeh Bachir, was away on the time of the explosion, but got here back to seek out her home in ruins.
“When I got here back, I discovered the home collapsed. There was only a window, nothing else. It simply wasn’t there. I used to walk and feel protected. Now, I feel prefer it’s not protected anymore, not prefer it was before the explosion,” she said.
“I used to purchase anything I wanted. Now I need to think twice before buying fruit. Everything is pricey, and I actually have a tough time getting my medication.”
Another individual, 21-year-old Maroun El Khawand, said that he and his family had had a miraculous escape, as that they had passed through the explosion area just an hour before the blast.
“The next day, we went all the way down to see the situation. The whole neighbourhood in front of the port was destroyed, as if it had been razed. There were no windows, even partitions had been torn down. It was devastating. Everything was gone,” he said.
El Khawand said that while he and people he knew had escaped death and injury, many suffered psychologically: “Plenty of people became traumatised by loud noises, corresponding to thunder.”
“When I look back now, these five years went by in a blink of an eye fixed. But if we fragmented every year, it could be a disaster – the coronavirus, the explosion, earthquakes, inflation, war,” he said.
“But Lebanese individuals are strong, they wish to see the brilliant side of things. It makes us stronger.”
Despite the litany of troubles faced by Lebanon over those five years, Bishop Jules Boutros, of the Syriac-Catholic Church, still said that the explosion was probably the most “shocking” event he had ever needed to take care of.
“At a private level, it was probably the most difficult thing that I actually have experienced prior to now five years. It was shocking, people couldn’t consider what had happened in only a single moment,” he said.
“I feel our role is to be the sunshine of our world, the sunshine of our nations.”
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