Was This Event Needed?
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WAS THIS EVENT NEEDED? The noon time of the capital city of Lebanon was not a peaceful one on the 4th of august for the citizens of Beirut. The devastating incident in Lebanon’s biggest state, the blast shook the minds of the entire world. Two explosions occurred in the port of Beirut, the second one being more powerful causing at least 171 deaths,6,000 injuries and 10-15 billon dollars in property damage and left around 300,000 people homeless. The reason for this blast was identified as stockpiling of ammonium nitrate in the port which has been stocked there for six years. The negligence of the Lebanese government on the stockpiling of the chemical for six years has now taken a toll on the people of Beirut and also Turkey, Syria, Israel and parts of Europe as a seismic event. Even though the government had been warned several times by different authorities no action had been taken, which has now turned a horrific blast which is considered now as one of the most powerful non-nuclear explosions in history. The ammonium nitrate that has been stored in the port of Beirut had come in the cargo ship MV Rhosus which set sail from Batumi, Georgia on 27th September 2003 to Beira, Mozambique carrying 2750 tons of ammonium nitrate This incident could have been easily avoided by Lebanon in a time period of six years but due to negligence a lot has been lost by Lebanon and its government as on 10th August 2020, the prime minister Hassan Diab and the Lebanese cabinet resigned due to mounting political pressure that was exacerbated by the event. The economy of Lebanon was in a state of crisis even prior to the explosion, with the government having defaulted on debt, the pound plunging, and a poverty rate that had risen past 50%. Also, the COVID-19 pandemic had overwhelmed many of the country’s hospitals, many of which were already short of medical supplies and were unable to pay staff due to a financial crisis. Now this avoidable situation of the blast has further brought down the economy of Lebanon. The tragic incident will be remembered worldwide and also will be an example to all the other nations so that they can prevent such an incident from happening again. We will pray for every soul we lost and we will give our support for the families that lost their loved ones. F/C NIRANJANA. P TN19SWF989066 5 TN AIR SQN (TECH) NCC .