04 Feb 2021; MEMO: It's been six months since an explosion in Beirut tore apart the entire city and the Lebanese authorities have failed to deliver any justice for those affected.
After the blast, people were forced to wake up every day and pick up the pieces in order to rebuild what was left of Beirut, and rise once again. The Lebanese citizens will never forget that in that moment, on 4 August 2020 at 6:08pm, 204 innocent lives were lost, over 6,500 people were injured, 200,000 homes were destroyed, 300,000 people were left homeless and 70,000 workers lost their jobs.
No one expected a massive warehouse explosion to happen, the sheer scale of the blast shook the world. Experts have estimated that the blast wave across Beirut could be one of the strongest non-nuclear explosions ever recorded. Local Cypriot media reported that the explosion could be felt over 200 kilometres away in Cyprus.
The nightmare of the 4 August led to scenes that 'resembled a horror film', said Khalil Haddad, a Beirut resident, husband and father of one. Khalil was having a minor operation at Al Roum hospital, also known as Saint George Hospital, less than one kilometre away from the port. He recounts small details that he didn't think would be important at the time but then ended up saving his life. Minutes before the blast he put on his shoes to go and meet his wife who was waiting for him in the reception hall, they were due to have a coffee before his operation. He could never have imagined that a task he carried out every day – putting shoes on – would save him from the wreckage of the hospital piercing into his bare feet.
