There is no other word to describe the aftermath of a massive explosion that rocked the Lebanese capital?on August 4.??
Thousands were citizens were carrying out daily tasks--some going to work, others preparing for big events like weddings, the birth of a child--but everything came to a halt in a matter of seconds as a blast ripped through the capital.?
For the past two days, social media has been flooded with gut-wrenching pictures and videos of the ordeal people faced after the blast.?
A video shared by BBC captures the exact moment the blast takes place as a woman gets ready to give birth.?
According to the BBC, the entire episode was captured by the husband waiting eagerly outside the maternity room.?
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"At that time we moved to the delivery room and the nurses and doctors were preparing a bed for him. Just about 20 seconds, they were preparing everything, it happened and we heard a sound (explosion) and everything was shattered, the glass, the instruments, everything, nothing left," the man named Edmond told the BBC.?
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?A shock wave broke the windows of the maternity hospital, the man fell to the floor to protect himself.?When he went to his wife to check if she was well.?
"We heard a noise and everything started to break, the windows, everything broke. "There is nothing left", he noted, characteristically."The ceiling had fallen. I was scared for my wife. "First I helped her, I took her out of the room, and then I helped the doctors and the nurses get up," he added.
The situation was all the more worrying because there were no medicines available and his wife was also in shock from the explosion. Luckily, about an hour later his wife Emmanuelle managed to deliver the baby safely.
Also Read: Videos Show Shockwave That Ripped Through Beirut After Explosion Leaving 250,000 Left Homeless
The Lebanese government has declared a state of emergency for two weeks and handed over control of the capital to the army.At the same time, the number of dead and injured is increasing, with the latest report talking about 135 dead and 5,000 injured from the violent explosions.
Repeated warnings were raised over the six years it was stored — including just six months ago when inspectors warned the seized material could “blow up all of Beirut,” sources told Reuters.Badri Daher, Director General of Lebanese Customs, also told broadcaster LBCI??that customs had sent six documents to the judiciary warning that the material posed a danger.
Also Read:?Beirut Blast: Nurse Carries Three Newborn Babies While Answering Emergency Calls