Like an atomic bomb: Scenes of Beirut explosions that killed at least 100, wounded thousands
(COMBO) This combination of pictures created from UGC footage taken on August 4, 2020 and filmed from a highrise shows a fireball exploding while smoke is billowing at the port of the Lebanese capital Beirut. – Two huge explosion rocked the Lebanese capital Beirut, wounding dozens of people, shaking buildings and sending huge plumes of smoke billowing into the sky. Lebanese media carried images of people trapped under rubble, some bloodied, after the massive explosions, the cause of which was not immediately known. (Photos by Mouafac HARB / MOUAFAC HARB / AFP)
(Eagle News) — These are just some of the scenes as provided by photos from Agence France Presse that showed the two enormous explosions which rocked Beirut’s port on Tuesday that killed at least 100 people and wounded thousands more.
The explosions that shook distant buildings, with an enomous orange fireball seen in the sky, had “tornado-like shockwaves” that shattered windows kilometers away.
Agence France Presse described the bloodied and dazed people wounded by the blasts that left officials and people in shock.
There were around 4,000 injured by the blasts. Corpses were on the ground, ambulances were lifting the dead, according to AFP.
It was “a disaster in every sense of the word”, said its health minister.
Witnesses described it as like an “atomic bomb” and the tremor produced was like an earthquake.
The explosions — which were heard in Nicosia, 240 kilometres (150 miles) away in Cyprus — were logged by seismologists, registering as the equivalent of a 3.3-magnitude earthquake.
Here are some photos of the devastating scenes:
A picture shows the scene of an explosion at the port in the Lebanese capital Beirut on August 4, 2020. – Two huge explosion rocked the Lebanese capital Beirut, wounding dozens of people, shaking buildings and sending huge plumes of smoke billowing into the sky. Lebanese media carried images of people trapped under rubble, some bloodied, after the massive explosions, the cause of which was not immediately known. (Photo by STR / AFP)
EDITORS NOTE: Graphic content / This picture taken on August 4, 2020 shows fires burning at the port of Lebanon’s capital Beirut with its cranes in the aftermath of a massive explosion. – Two huge explosion rocked the Lebanese capital Beirut, wounding dozens of people, shaking buildings and sending huge plumes of smoke billowing into the sky. Lebanese media carried images of people trapped under rubble, some bloodied, after the massive explosions, the cause of which was not immediately known. (Photo by JOSEPH EID / AFP)
AFP reported that the cause of the explosions was not immediately known but a top official, General Security chief Abbas Ibrahim, said confiscated explosive materials had been stored at the city’s port.
“It appears that there is a warehouse containing material that was confiscated years ago, and it appears that it was highly explosive material,” he said.
Later, officials said the blast appeared to have been caused by a fire igniting 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate left unsecured in a warehouse. It was felt as far away as Cyprus, some 150 miles (240 kilometres) to the northwest.
Lebanon’s President Michel Aoun called for “urgent” defence council talks, while Prime Minister Hasan Diab declared Wednesday a day of mourning.
“What happened today will not pass without accountability,” said Diab. “Those responsible for this catastrophe will pay the price.”
Wounded people are pictured outside a hospital following an explosion in the Lebanese capital Beirut on August 4, 2020. – Two huge explosion rocked the Lebanese capital Beirut, wounding dozens of people, shaking buildings and sending huge plumes of smoke billowing into the sky. Lebanese media carried images of people trapped under rubble, some bloodied, after the massive explosions, the cause of which was not immediately known. (Photo by IBRAHIM AMRO / AFP)Wounded people wait to received help outside a hospital following an explosion in the Lebanese capital Beirut on August 4, 2020. – Two huge explosion rocked the Lebanese capital Beirut, wounding dozens of people, shaking buildings and sending huge plumes of smoke billowing into the sky. Lebanese media carried images of people trapped under rubble, some bloodied, after the massive explosions, the cause of which was not immediately known. (Photo by IBRAHIM AMRO / AFP)EDITORS NOTE: Graphic content / A man carries away an injured girl while walking through debris past in the Achrafiyeh district in the centre of Lebanon’s capital Beirut on August 4, 2020, following an explosion at the nearby port of Beirut. – Two huge explosion rocked the Lebanese capital Beirut, wounding dozens of people, shaking buildings and sending huge plumes of smoke billowing into the sky. Lebanese media carried images of people trapped under rubble, some bloodied, after the massive explosions, the cause of which was not immediately known. (Photo by Marwan TAHTAH / AFP)Lebanese army commandos deploy in the partially destroyed trendy neighbourhood of Mar Mikhael following an explosion at the port of Beirut on August 4, 2020. – Two enormous explosions rocked Beirut’s port on August 4, killing at least 73 people and wounding thousands, shaking distant buildings and leaving the Lebanese capital in panic and chaos. (Photo by PATRICK BAZ / AFP) Debris is seen on a main road in Beirut at sunset following a twin explosion that shook the port of Lebanon’s capital on August 4, 2020. – Two huge explosion rocked the Lebanese capital Beirut, wounding dozens of people, shaking buildings and sending huge plumes of smoke billowing into the sky. Lebanese media carried images of people trapped under rubble, some bloodied, after the massive explosions. (Photo by Marwan TAHTAH / AFP)An injured man sits next to a restaurant in the trendy partially destroyed Beirut neighbourhood of Mar Mikhael on August 5, 2020 in the aftermath of a massive explosion in the Lebanese capital. – Rescuers searched for survivors in Beirut today after a cataclysmic explosion at the port sowed devastation across entire neighbourhoods, killing more than 100 people, wounding thousands and plunging Lebanon deeper into crisis. (Photo by PATRICK BAZ / AFP)A picture shows the scene of an explosion near the the port in the Lebanese capital Beirut on August 4, 2020. – Two huge explosion rocked the Lebanese capital Beirut, wounding dozens of people, shaking buildings and sending huge plumes of smoke billowing into the sky. Lebanese media carried images of people trapped under rubble, some bloodied, after the massive explosions, the cause of which was not immediately known. (Photo by STR / AFP)EDITORS NOTE: Graphic content / Lebanese army soldiers carry away an injured man at a hospital in the aftermath of an explosion at the port of Lebanon’s capital Beirut on August 4, 2020. – Two huge explosion rocked the Lebanese capital Beirut, wounding dozens of people, shaking buildings and sending huge plumes of smoke billowing into the sky. Lebanese media carried images of people trapped under rubble, some bloodied, after the massive explosions, the cause of which was not immediately known. (Photo by IBRAHIM AMRO / AFP)