Last Tuesday(8/4/20) in Beirut began like most others, but it quickly turned disastrous. 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate exploded at a warehouse in The port of Beirut. The blast ended up killing more than 160 people and injured well over 5,000. Beyond the destruction of human life, over 300K people were left homeless and businesses throughout the city were leveled.
Ammonium nitrate an extremely dangerous chemical that has been responsible for over 30 explosive disasters since the beginning of the 20th century. The ammonium nitrate in Beirut had been stored without any safety measures in a warehouse in the Port of a Beirut since 2014.
Civil unrest and protests are now running rampant in a country that is already ravaged by a poor economy and the current global pandemic. There is hope that real progress can be made moving forward but changes do need to occur immediately and swiftly.
In response to the chaos that has erupted the main part of the government(The Cabinet and Prime Minister) resigned in mass but the people of Beirut are still demanding answers and are holding the government accountable for not taking the necessary safety precautions to have prevented something like this from ever happening.
