Utter Devastation As Toll from Beirut Monster Blast Tops 100

Rescuers searched for survivors in Beirut Wednesday after a cataclysmic blast at the harbour, sowing chaos through whole suburbs, killing more than 100 men, injuring thousands and plunging Lebanon further into crisis.

The explosion, which seemed to have been caused by a fire that exploded 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate left unsecured in the factory, was heard as far away as Cyprus, about 150 miles (240 kilometers) northwest, reports AFP.

The scale of the damage was such that the Lebanese capital resembles the scene of the disaster, with thousands of residents left homeless and thousands more stranded in overcrowded hospitals for care.

"We've had some dark days in Lebanon over the years but this is something else," said Rami Rifai, a 38-year-old engineer, speaking to AFP from a hospital where his two daughters were receiving treatment after sustaining cuts despite being half a kilometre from the seat of the blast.

"We already had the economic crisis, a government of thieves and coronavirus. I didn't think it could get worse but now I don't know if this country can get up again. Everyone is going to try to leave. I will try to leave," he said, his voice choked by tears.

In the places nearest to the city, the volume of damage incurred by the long years of civil war between 1975 and 1990 was done by a blast that destroyed buildings within a distance of several hundred meters.

One resident of Mar Mikhail, one of the most damaged areas, said she saw bodies scattering in the center of the lane, seemingly flung off the balconies and rooftops by the explosion.

A ton of people observed and recorded with their cameras after an earlier and smaller blast was detected in the port and a fire began.

- 'The Apocalypse' -

The resulting footage, widely posted on social media, depicts a pillar of fire and smoke growing over Beirut and a white shockwave engulfing all surrounding it.

The mushroom-shaped explosion - which seismologists said was logged as the equivalent of a 3.3 magnitude quake -- and the scope of the damage drew nuclear analogies in many people's accounts of the tragedy.

"The Apocalypse" read the headline of L'Orient-Le Jour, the main French-language daily in Lebanon, a country that has seen its share of explosions in its recent past, but none quite this big.

The embattled government of Prime Minister Hassan Diab described the circumstances at the port that led to the explosion as "unacceptable" and vowed to investigate.

"Those responsible for this catastrophe will pay the price," he said.

Messages of support poured in from around the world for Lebanon, whose economy was already on its knees after defaulting on sovereign debt earlier this year.

A crippling devaluation has sent poverty levels soaring to an estimated 50 percent of the population and for a country so heavily reliant on imports, the obliteration of the main port signalled more hardship ahead.

Criticism of the government was already rife on social media, where Lebanese users argued that a disaster of such magnitude could only strike in a state whose institutions are crippled by incompetence and corruption.

Late Tuesday, thousands of families drove out of Beirut to take their families to safety, but many others were left stranded without a roof, unable to go anywhere or unwilling to leave their gutted homes open to looters.

The rescue effort was slowed at night by the lack of electricity, which was already intermittent at best in much of the city before the explosion.

The security forces sealed off a huge area around the blast site, turning away residents trying to reach their homes to assess the damage.

- 'I saw the mushroom' -

Johnny Assaf, an estate agent whose home and office were destroyed by the blast, said he lost everything except his life.

"I saw the mushroom first, then the force of the blast swept through my office. It sent me literally flying halfway across the office until my head hit the printer," he told AFP, nursing a hastily bandaged arm.

"In hospital they stitched me up without anaesthesia and then stopped before they were done because too many serious injuries were being rushed in. I saw people die in front of me," he said.

Hospitals that have already been stressed to the verge of a increase in the amount of coronavirus cases in recent days have been brought to new levels by the surge of injured and compelled to drive others away.

Saint-Georges hospital was badly damaged by the explosion and lost several members of its staff.

The Red Cross said on Wednesday morning that more than 100 deaths had been confirmed. It also reported around 4,000 injured, prompting fears that the death toll could rise significantly.

For a country where smallholders have not been able to borrow even tiny sums of cash from banks since the beginning of the year, there has been no prospect of redress for anyone whose savings have been lost.

Crippled by debt and political paralysis, Lebanon, which was due to celebrate its centenary next month, looked ill-equipped to tackle the new crisis.

Grassroots activism was already intact, though, with campaigns immediately set up on social media to aid users find their loved ones or provide victims with temporary housing.