Beirut Suffers Another Explosion, Lebanon Sinks Into Further Turmoil

Another month, another deadly blast in Beirut, as at least four people were killed and over 30 were wounded late Friday night after a fuel tank exploded in the Lebanese capital. According to local residents, the blast catapulted a blazing container into the street, cutting electricity cords and igniting a fire in the winding alleyways. The weekend’s incident comes precisely one month after a huge fire at a rubber tire warehouse in the capital’s port engulfed the Beirut skies with black smoke and toxic gas, causing hundreds to flee the city in fear of another devastating blast similar to the August 3 explosion. That catastrophic event, a result of negligently stored ammonium nitrate, took the lives of over 200 people, injured 6,500 more and left 300,000 homeless, as large swaths of the city were razed to the ground within seconds. The tragic incident only exacerbated an already historic Lebanese economic collapse, leading to the government’s dissolution and the nomination of a new candidate for prime minister, Mustapha Adib, who in late September was forced to step down after failing to form a new government. The political and financial turmoil has led former prime minister Saad Hariri, who just last year resigned over public dissatisfaction, to recently offer his name as a potential savior.