A Beirut resident describes moments after the explosion: “The air was withdrawn from the city.”

A Canadian artist from Montreal has heard nothing but believes that his apartment in Beirut was struck by an earthquake as a massive explosion occurred across the port area of ​​the city on Tuesday.

A Canadian artist from Montreal has heard nothing but believes that his apartment in Beirut was struck by an earthquake as a massive explosion occurred across the port area of ​​the city on Tuesday.

“The whole building shook, the paintings fell, things were broken, and the chairs moved. Two seconds later, I heard the explosion,” Sami Basbous said in an interview on WhatsApp.

Basbous, who is visiting Lebanon, said he lives five kilometers from the site of the explosion in an apartment overlooking the port without hindrance.

“It was as if the air had been pulled from the city and drawn from the people. It was pulled from me,” he said.

He was observing a plume of smoke rising from the port when the explosion struck. He described “a mushroom cloud in a strange red color and mushrooms” coming from the fire zone within seconds of the explosion.

“Smoke flooded the whole city. It was terrifying. Almost breathless. It threw me out. It was so devastating.”

Rawan Al Zahed lived about five kilometers from the site of the explosion and said that she ran through her house to inspect her family after she heard explosions and felt an earthquake.

Al-Zahed, 24, said she felt two explosions a few seconds apart. The first felt like an earthquake, while the second sent shock waves through her family’s apartment on the fifth floor.

“I was very scared,” Al-Zahid said. “I didn’t want to die. I was screaming,” I don’t want to die now. “”

Zahid, who has submitted worksheets to join her Canadian husband in Vancouver, said that the second blast left a wooden and cracked iron door and smashed the TV screen at her home.

The explosion killed at least 135 people, including a Montreal resident who had long been identified by a member of the Montreal City Council.

Thousands more were wounded, and the federal government said that a member of the Canadian armed forces was among the injured, although the injuries were not considered life-threatening.

The Lebanese government said it had placed an unspecified number of port officials under house arrest pending the clarification of how 2750 tons of ammonium nitrate were stored in the port for years.

Experts said the magnitude of the damage, from the center of the explosion to the windows that exploded kilometers away, is similar to other explosions involving a chemical compound commonly used as agricultural fertilizer.

Basbous, who came to Canada from Beirut in 1981 and returned on a visit, after being stranded by the COVID-19 pandemic, said that the explosion was so strong that it had breathed its breath.

“I have never tried something like this, and I hope I will not try it again,” he said.

Basbous said that the explosion had exacerbated the various problems that were already facing the people of Lebanon.

“And I have love for this beautiful country which is unfortunately very complicated.”

Since Tuesday’s explosion, he has said that he has been in constant contact with friends and family.

He added that he contacted various non-profit organizations, food banks and shelters to provide his services and mobilize resources for them.

Al-Zahid said that she called her husband. He tried to tone down the mood with some jokes, but she said she was so terrified that she couldn’t sleep.

She said, “I wake up, tweet. I wake up, open Facebook. I want to see what’s going on.” “All I can think of is how I ran. All I remember was when I ran.”

He described the explosion as the most powerful explosion ever in the city, which was divided by the 1975-1990 civil war, and suffered from conflicts with neighboring Israel, periodic bombings and terrorist attacks.

Lebanon has been experiencing an acute economic crisis that has sparked massive protests in recent months. Its health system is facing a mutation in COVID-19, and there are concerns that the virus will spread further as people pour into hospitals.

Al-Zahed said that she is still trying to reconcile with what happened, noting that because of her age, she has survived much of Lebanon’s recent tragedy.

“I am 24 years old,” Zahid said. “I have not lived through any other major Lebanese wars.” “I was very young on that in 2006, and I haven’t had any trauma before such a trauma. It was really scary.”

– With files from the Associated Press.

This report was first published by the Canadian press on August 5, 2020.

Here, Canadian Press

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