Undoubtedly, the explosion in the port of Beirut on the 4th of August 2020 didn’t just take away many beautiful spots from Beirut but also impacted the normal lifestyle and home of its native citizens. With the explosion covering a huge area of Beirut, even the farthest of houses faced major to minor damages resulting in new struggles for recovery. A tremendous amount of ammonium nitrate (2,750 tonnes) stored in a warehouse in the Port of Beirut exploded, causing over 200 deaths, 1,000s of injuries, billions of dollars in (property) damage, and around 300,000 people lost their homes. The warehouse where the ammonium nitrate was stored had no proper safety measures for the past six years. The exact cause is still under investigation, but rumor goes that welding a door might have been the cause, lighting an unwanted fire. Next to that, bags of fireworks were most likely stored in the warehouse as well. And let’s not ignore the fact that the ammonium nitrate should have been relocated and not stored at this location in the first place.
Surrounding countries such as Syria, Israel, Turkey, and even parts of Europe and Cyprus heard or felt the explosion. Homes as far away as 8-10 km lost their windows. It is considered one of the most powerful artificial and non-nuclear explosions that ever happened in the history of the world.
Even today, after almost a year of the explosion, the citizens and residents of Lebanon’s capital, Beirut, are struggling to gather material and cash to repair the damage caused by that unfortunate blast. While a few homes and public spots have been recovered for being safe and accessible for public visits, the city is still putting all its efforts and facing daily struggles to revive its spirit. While it seemed like a decent road to being revived again, many underprivileged homes and public spots still portray the blast they witnessed with the damages that are yet to be repaired. Here are a few photos I took, portraying the damage that has still not been able to let go of the blast’s marks.
Note: not all the damage you see in the photos in this article is related to the explosion. Instead, the photo might show the damage to Beirut's architecture or cultural heritage in general and before the explosion. In-depth details about the locations I photographed will be published in the following months.
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Denaoui Palace
Rose House
This is such a tragedy. Especially places like Quantum House and Sursock Palace...so much beautiful architecture destroyed or damaged. I remember the news reports about the blast, but there were no close-up examples of just exactly how much damage these beautiful buildings sustained. Of course, nothing compares to the hundreds of people who lost their lives, but to see the aftermath like this is jarring and sad.
This is such a tragedy. Especially places like Quantum House and Sursock Palace...so much beautiful architecture destroyed or damaged. I remember the news reports about the blast, but there were no close-up examples of just exactly how much damage these beautiful buildings sustained. Of course, nothing compares to the hundreds of people who lost their lives, but to see the aftermath like this is jarring and sad.
