Public Story
Lebanese expats in London protest to demand revenge for deadly blast in Beirut
About 200 members of the Lebanese community in London joined emergency demonstration on Saturday in support of mass protests in Beirut following deadly blast that killed over 150, injured over 5000 and made up to 300 thousand homeless. Within a second, a massive stash of almost 2000 tons of ammonium nitrate exploded on Tuesday 4th August evening flattening the area of Beirut's docks, rendering many buildings in down town Beirut inhabitable and shattering windows up to 6 km from the epicentre. The chemicals, originally shipped from Georgia to Mozambique, were in Beirut's port since 2013 when, according to one explanation, the ship was prevented from leaving due to either unpaid fees or bad technical state. Bags of chemicals were later offloaded into one of the warehouses in the docks and kept there in close proximity to busy seafront neighbourhood. It is not yet exactly known why the ammonium nitrate exploded, fireworks stored in the same warehouse are suspected to have triggered the blast, but it is the inaction of authorities after multiple warnings about the grave danger, that has enraged the Lebanese public. People have been requesting the demise of the whole political elite for many years, but the deadly blast and its unnecessary casualties have galvanised the protests with people having nothing else to lose ready to take over their country once and for all.
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