Table of Contents Hide
- Our hearts and prayers go to the victims, their families, and Lebanon
- What actually happened?
- Global support
- Arab States of the Persian Gulf were first in line
- Australia decided to donate 2 million Australian dollars
- Pope Francis prayers will be for Beirut victims
- France sends military planes, equipment and rescuers
- Turkish aid group offers rescue team and build a field hospital
- Iran sends medical aid to Lebanon
- Cyprus sends medical teams to Lebanon
Our hearts and prayers go to the victims, their families, and Lebanon
In total, there are about 100 people died during the explosion and 4,000 more were injured at Beirut Port, Lebanon yesterday. There is no clear explanation of the explosion. But officials linked that the blast happened due to the 2750 tonnes of confiscated ammonium nitrate stored in the port warehouse for about six years ago.
What actually happened?
The large explosion started at about 6.00 pm local time (15:00) GMT. From sparks of fire to several small blasts and then a colossal explosion that causes the harbor front and surrounding buildings to be flattened. The pressure was equivalent of a magnitude 3.3 earthquake.
According to the General Manager of the port, the customs department and state security had asked authorities to export or remove the potentially explosive material years ago. Yet, nothing happened. In result, the massive explosion finally happened 🙁
300,000 people have lost their homes currently and the local authorities are doing as much as they can to provide food, water, and shelter. The death toll is expected to arise as the rescue mission goes along.
Global support
The timing couldn’t have been worse with the coronavirus pandemic situation. Countries are affected in so many ways especially when it comes to the economy, this includes Lebanon as well. With the unfortunate happened recently, the Prime Minister of Lebanon Hassan Diab has called upon the “friendly countries” to help as much as possible.
Arab States of the Persian Gulf were first in line
Any effort matters at this point. Physical, emotional, and financial support to support the victims. As you are reading this, emergency medical and pop-up field hospitals have been dispatched to Lebanon right now. Gulf states (Bahrain, Kuwait, Iraq, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates) were the first to respond by sending help.
Australia decided to donate 2 million Australian dollars
Wow, this is incredible! With the help of 2 million Australian dollars ($1.4mn) to be donated to Lebanon, this would help Beirut to recover hopefully. According to the Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne, the donation will go to the World Food Programme and the Red Cross fund. This is to ensure that food, medical care and essential items are provided well to the victims. If you must know, Australia and Lebanon have built a strong relationship over the years. There are more than 230,000 Australians that have Lebanese heritage currently. Oh, and also, an Australian was killed and the Australian Embassy in Lebanon was damaged during the explosion.
Pope Francis prayers will be for Beirut victims
For those who don’t know, Pope Francis is the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State. Sending prayers all the way from Vatican City, he only wishes wonderful thoughts for the victims, their families, and of course, for Lebanon.
France sends military planes, equipment and rescuers
As an effort to help Lebanon, France sends two military planes there with rescue experts and 15 tonnes of sanitary equipment. That’s not all! A mobile clinic is included as well to help treat 500 injured people when the explosion happened.
Turkish aid group offers rescue team and build a field hospital
Turkey’s Humanitarian Relief Foundation (IHH) is part of the search and rescue team in Beirut. On top of that, Ankara, the capital of Turkey, has offered to build a field hospital in Lebanon to provide help as much as needed.
As the members of the IHH group were looking out for people and recover bodies, they mobilized a kitchen at a Palestinian refugee camp as well. This effort is for easy delivery food to those in need.
Iran sends medical aid to Lebanon
Iran’s president, Hassan Rouhani offers medical aid to treat people who were injured in the massive explosion.
Cyprus sends medical teams to Lebanon
Cyprus Foreign Minister Nikos Christodoulides stated that the Cyprus Embassy which was located about 200km away from the port was badly damaged. Fortunately, the embassy was closed at a particular time so no one was harmed from the office. Even so, the country still offers medical aid to be sent to Lebanon.
Malaysia offers to support in any ways possible
As stated by Malaysian Foreign Minister Hishammuddin Hussein, Malaysia is ready to support Lebanon in any way that we can. Oh, yes!
Also, the good news is that Malaysian soldiers who are currently deployed under the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (Unifil) were not affected by the explosion. Alhamdulillah!
Malaysia stands together in grief as our thoughts and prayers accompany the strong people of 🇱🇧 Lebanon. We stand ready to support any way we can. Initial reports from our @MYEmbBeirut show that all Malaysians there are safe and have been advised to stay at home #PrayForLebanon pic.twitter.com/tpJJ8HAo5x
— Hishammuddin Hussein 🇲🇾 (@HishammuddinH2O) August 5, 2020
Following Hishammuddin’s statement, as Malaysian citizens, we can also contribute to help in any way that we can. A little donation may help along the way. Check out this link on how you can donate.
