Already Battered By Coronavirus and Economic Collapse, Beirut’s Catastrophic Explosion Could Push Lebanon To The Brink 

The death toll in the massive explosion that ripped through Beirut on Tuesday (Aug 4) has reached 135. At least 4,000 more have been injured. With hundreds reported missing, the death toll is likely to much larger than the current estimate

The explosion occurred after more than 2,700 tons of explosive ammonium nitrate, stored since 2013 in a government-owned warehouse detonated. Legal and financial complications led to the storage of the chemical after a ship bound for Mozambique in 2013 was diverted to the port in Beirut.

At least 4 hospitals in Beirut are out of service after sustaining damage in the blast. Other hospitals, already struggling to treat COVID patients, have been overwhelmed with casualties from the blast.

The United States Geological Survey put the energy of Tuesday evening’s explosion at the equivalent of a 3.3-magnitude earthquake. The explosion was so powerful that it shattered buildings and overturned cars on nearby roadways with a force felt as far away as Cyprus, some 240 kilometers away in the Mediterranean.

The catastrophic explosion is certain to exacerbate Lebanon's struggle with the coronavirus pandemic as well as hyperinflation and looming economic collapse. The inflation has risen by 56% and the country’s economy is projected to contract by 12% this year.

The blast destroyed the port of Beirut, one of Lebanon’s economic hotpsot. The explosion cause extensive damage to the city’s commercial center, its cosmopolitan nightlife district and iconic Mediterranean waterfront. The hangars in city’s special economic zones were also destroyed.

Beirut port is critical infrastructure given how heaving dependent Lebanon is on imports for everything from fuel to food .

Tuesday’s explosion could push Lebanon, a country already wrecked by years of brutal civil strife, an invasion by Syria and a war with Israel, over the edge