⁍ A powerful blast in port warehouses near central Beirut killed 78 people, injured nearly 4,000 and sent seismic shockwaves across the Lebanese capital.

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⁍ It was the most powerful explosion in years in Beirut, which is already reeling from an economic crisis and a surge in coronavirus infections.

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⁍ President Michel Aoun said that 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate, used in fertilisers and bombs, had been stored for six years at the port without safety measures.

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– A huge explosion struck port warehouses near central Beirut on Tuesday, killing at least 78 people and injuring more than 4,000 in what Lebanese President Michel Aoun called “a huge catastrophe.” Reuters reports the blast was the most powerful in Lebanon’s capital in years. “What we are witnessing is a huge catastrophe,” the head of Lebanon’s Red Cross says. “There are victims and casualties everywhere.” Aoun called for an emergency cabinet meeting Wednesday and said a two-week state of emergency should be declared. The US embassy in Beirut warned residents to stay indoors and warned of toxic gases released by the blast, urging people to stay indoors and wear masks if available. “I’ve never seen this. It was horrible,” a medic tells Reuters. “The blast blew me off meters away. I was in a daze and was all covered in blood. It brought back the vision of another explosion I witnessed against the US embassy in 1983,” says a Beirut designer. The blast revived memories of the 1975-90 civil war and its aftermath, when Lebanese endured heavy shelling, car bombings, and Israeli air raids. The government said it was still struggling to establish the magnitude of the disaster. “There are many people missing. People are asking the emergency department about their loved ones and it is difficult to search at night because there is no electricity,” Health Minister Hamad Hasan tells Reuters. Hasan said 78 people were killed and nearly 4,000 injured.