A year has passed since August 4, 2020, when at 6pm, 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate exploded in a warehouse in the port of Beirut, Lebanon.
This was the largest non-nuclear explosion that was ever recorded and left more than 200 people dead, 6,500 injured and nearly 80,000 homes and buildings partially or fully destroyed. No house, no store, no institution in Beirut was spared the damages. The intensity of the explosion was felt in Cyprus which is more than 240 km away.
In one second, more damage was done to Beirut than throughout the years of the civil war.
Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) has now issued a report on the work and assistance it has offered during the last 12 months to Beirut. ACN has supported 67 projects. including 19 reconstruction ones, to somewhat alleviate the present critical situation.
The most urgent work was done to secure buildings’ structure and protect them before the start of the rainy season, but these buildings still need to be restored to their pre-explosion conditions.
The situation is getting worse and more assistance is needed
ACN also provided emergency and subsistence aid, including food packages for 5,000 Lebanese families and transport support for volunteers, making daily food deliveries to more than 560 people of different beliefs.
ACN food packages for needy Lebanese families following the Beirut port blast. The situation was made worse by the COVID-19 pandemic and economic crisis.COVID-19 medical assistance, in the form of breathing machines, was offered to families. A testing centre and respirators was also provided by ACN for Zahlé, the capital and the largest city of Beqaa Governorate, Lebanon.
St John the Merciful Table provides 1,500 meals a day for refugees and vulnerable Lebanese families. About 100 families in the Bekaa Valley and another 500 families in Tripoli have been provided with food and personal care products.
Stephen Axisa, the national director of ACN (Malta) said: “ACN has received letters of appreciation for the practical help and assistance that we have been giving to the people not only of Beirut but also of other Lebanese regions that have been also affected by August 4 blast. This came on top of a COVID-19 emergency and a crumbling economic and political scenario for the Lebanese people.
“We thank in particular our benefactors as through their donations, prompt and effective help has been constantly delivered in this critical situation throughout these last 12 months. Together, with the other 22 ACN offices across the world, we made a difference but, most importantly, instilled some hope where there was none.”
Unfortunately, notwithstanding all these efforts by ACN, the situation is getting worse and more assistance is needed, as due to the pandemic and the economic crisis, the number of needy families are on the increase.
Axisa said: “Lebanon is experiencing a negative ‘domino’ effect. What it has been experiencing in recent years has been further complicated by the blast and the pandemic.
“Now, all these negative issues are resulting in middle class families sliding into poverty, while the poor are becoming poorer. ACN wants to help the Lebanese in practical ways as much as is physically and financially possible. In this regard, ACN has already embarked on plans to further assist these people in the firm belief that more kind persons would come forward to donate a little from what they have to dry the tears of the Lebanese and give more Lebanese the hope for a better future.”