Speculation and fear after massive explosion in Beirut

Many, dazed and awestruck, fearful and confused, wondered what had happened.

By SETH J. FRANTZMAN
Smoke rises after an explosion was heard in Beirut, Lebanon August 4, 2020 (photo credit: REUTERS/ISSAM ABDALLAH)
Smoke rises after an explosion was heard in Beirut, Lebanon August 4, 2020
(photo credit: REUTERS/ISSAM ABDALLAH)
Hospitals in Beirut are turning away the injured from today’s massive explosion - there are too many. The scenes in the city look like a war zone. For many in Lebanon it may conjure up images from decades ago during the Civil War. But these scenes of destruction all occurred in a space of half an hour on Tuesday evening.
At least three explosions happened in Lebanon’s port. They began with one that caused smoke to billow into the sky in the fading afternoon light. Later a second seemed to create a reddish dark smoke. What looked like fireworks or other explosive material could be seen combusting before a massive third explosion kicked up a huge shockwave of vaporizing air, water and smoke that decimated areas around the port.
Hundreds of people had their cell phones out recording the explosions, wondering what was happening. From Dahiyeh to the hills around Beirut, they saw what looked more like a nuclear explosion from movies than something anyone thought they would see in real life. Many of the reporters based in Beirut have seen explosions and war before in places like Syria and Iraq. They were stunned too.
More than a kilometer away, Lizzie Porter, a correspondent, wrote of being knocked off her feet. Offices were destroyed as windows caved in from the force of the blast. People speculated about fireworks or fuel combusting. The Health Ministry, which is linked to Hezbollah, put out a statement after seven in the evening, blaming fireworks.
“I don’t buy the accident narrative,” wrote Ghanem Nuseibeh, an expert on the Middle East, on Twitter. Many, dazed and awestruck, fearful and confused, wondered what had happened. The elderly among them are saying that only the scenes from the Civil War era remind them of the streets covered in dust and rubble and broken glass like this. 
Some sleuthing by Aurora Intel on Twitter found video of what clearly looks like a fireworks storage slowly going off in tiny explosions before the big one. Samir Madani, co-founder of Tanker Trackers, notes that two ships arrived recently, the cargo vessel Mero Star and the Raouf H. They both came from Ukraine. They could be transporting any number of things, including fireworks.
The question some are asking is whether there were other munitions in the area that caused the bigger explosions. Could a warehouse nearby have held fertilizer or nitrates? Could it be linked to Hezbollah weapons trafficking? These are the questions that the explosion brings to mind. Questions were raised also why anyone would store munitions so close to a civilian area. Others noted that Hezbollah has done this for years.
Beirut International Airport, ten kilometers from the blasts, was also damaged. Videos of bodies, at least three of them, closer to the blast site were also put online. It looked like the people had died instantly, it was not clear if their clothes had been shredded or ripped from their bodies by the extreme explosion, but they appeared to be lacking some clothing. 
Some in Lebanon speculated that a missile or some kind of attack had caused the destruction. Ignorant people even suggested a “nuclear” attack. However, experts pointed out that is not possible and is just because people don’t understand what nuclear weapons do and look like. Non the missile theory continued into the evening hours with reports that people had “seen it,” even though there was no evidence of an airstrike. Tensions between Hezbollah and Israel no doubt underpinned this explanation. 
Beirut is already suffering a financial crisis and electricity problems. It has had problems with garbage collection, protests and a seeming endless list of political crises. The scale of destruction in offices and other areas appeared to be in the tens or hundreds of millions of dollars. This will ravage a Lebanon that is already financially ruined. Nevertheless, within an hour of the explosion, as fires burned in the port, hundreds of cars were driving back and forth on Charles Helou avenue by the port.