Lebanese authorities have declared Beirut a “disaster city.”
Following the devastating explosion in Lebanon’s capital yesterday, August 4th, Lebanese authorities declared Beirut a “disaster city” as the death roll rose to 113.
Lebanon’s prime minister revealed that an investigation has been launched into the cause of the blast, which is most likely due to an estimated 2,750 metric tons of explosive ammonium nitrate stored at a Beirut warehouse. The Guardian journalist Martin Chulov, who was reporting at the scene of the explosion, stated that the “whole nightclub district [was] virtually wiped out.”
According to Mixmag, a bevy of nightclubs and music venues were located close to the site of the explosion, including The Gärten, The Ballroom Blitz, The Grand Factory, AHM, and B018, among others. Moe Choucair, co-founder of The Ballroom Blitz, told Mixmag, “The nightclub district is indeed all along the port but the damage means nothing to our team in comparison to the apocalyptic disaster our country went through.”
Lebanese authorities have placed numerous Beirut port officials, who were responsible for storage and security, under house arrest in connection to the deadly blast.
You can find a list of relief initiatives here.
CBS News obtained a video of the moment the explosion took place, which you can watch below.
