▶ For more of our best photography,
visit time.com/lightbox
Downtown Beirut was a mess
of rubble, glass and twisted rebar
after a colossal explosion tore
through the Lebanese capital on
Aug. 4. The apparent accident left
at least 135 people dead, wounded
some 5,000 others, and damaged
so many buildings in the city
that hundreds of thousands were
left homeless.
Lebanese authorities blamed
the blast—so powerful it was felt
150 miles away in Cyprus—on the
detonation of 2,750 metric tons of
ammonium nitrate at Beirut’s port.
Throughout the night of Aug. 4,
radio presenters read out names
of the wounded and missing as
relatives scrambled to locate loved
ones. Dozens were still missing
at press time.
The disaster added to the agony
of a nation in its worst fnancial cri-
sis since its 15-year-long civil war
ended in 1990. One in three Leba-
nese people is unemployed, the
Lebanese pound has lost 80% of its
value against the dollar since Octo-
ber, and prior to the blast grid elec-
tricity was only available for a few
hours per day. “We will start seeing
children dying from hunger before
the end of the year,” said Save the
Children in a recent report.
As details of negligence in the
run-up to the blast emerged, so
did public anger at a government
widely perceived as corrupt and
incompetent. “People are promising
that today we mourn our martyrs
and tomorrow we go back to the
streets,” said Fatima Al Mahmoud,
a 22-year-old journalist. “I hope
that’s true.” —Joseph hincks
PHOTOGRAPH BY HASSAN AMMAR—AP
WORLD
A vast explosion
in Beirut piles
tragedy on
economic misery