Lebanon: Beirut port explosion, one year on

Lebanon marks the first anniversary of the devastating blast, as families of victims still wait in vain for justice.

On August 4, 2020, one of the world’s biggest-ever, non-nuclear explosions destroyed much of Beirut’s port and devastated swaths of the capital. The blast was caused by a fire in a warehouse which Lebanese authorities admit held a vast stockpile of ammonium nitrate for six years. The huge explosion left more than 200 dead, and more than 6,500 injured. Some 300,000 homes were damaged or destroyed.