Currents News Staff
Less than 24 hours after the massive explosion went off in Beirut at 6 p.m. on the evening of Aug. 4, the city is a scene of destruction.
In fact, the government has declared Beirut as a disaster zone. According to the health ministry, at least 100 people were killed, more than 4,000 wounded and several hundred thousand people have been made homeless as a result of the explosion.
The extent of the destruction in the area not far from Beirut port is evident: almost every window was shattered. Cars have been damaged. The police have been going around trying to make a record of all the destruction that has taken place.
The government has allocated millions of dollars to try to rebuild this city. But the problem Lebanon has is that the government is bankrupt. The economy is in free fall and Lebanon’s traditional donors have essentially abandoned it. It has come down to ordinary people doing what they can to help clean up the mess. Volunteers have been going around handing out water and sandwiches.
The president of Lebanon has said that a transparent investigation will be conducted into what happened on Tuesday evening about that explosion. But at this point, many people are so angry with the government that has for decades mismanaged the country.
There’s little faith that that investigation will come up with real answers to what happened in Beirut.