Devastating and amazing, these photographs immortalize the tragic Beirut blast of August 4th, 2020. They captured the port and the people during and after the disaster. It took place four months ago and Lebanon’s capital city is still deeply wounded.
The international news agency, Agence France-Presse, better known as AFP, has selected 120 pictures from all around the world which the agency considered its best of 2020.
Among its Pictures of the Year, four photographs were taken during and after the Beirut Blast, and one of a woman standing next to her empty fridge.
In addition to that photo reflecting Lebanon’s extreme economic crisis, 4 haunting photographs will keep the memory of the Beirut explosion remembered forever:
Trigger warning.
#1
Shot on August 4th soon after the blast, this photograph engraves the apocalyptical scene at the port and desperate efforts to put out the fire that continued to burn long after the shockwave devastated Beirut and its people.
The caption reads: “A helicopter puts out a fire at the scene of an explosion at the port of Lebanon’s capital Beirut on August 4, 2020.”
#2
From a nearby building destroyed in the blast, photographer Anwar Amro caught this apocalyptic scene as smoke still billowed over the port the morning after the explosion.
The caption reads: “A view shows the aftermath of yesterday’s blast at the port of Lebanon’s capital Beirut, on August 5, 2020. Rescuers worked through the night after two enormous explosions ripped through Beirut’s port, killing at least 78 people and injuring thousands, as they wrecked buildings across the Lebanese capital.”
#3
If a photo can speak a thousand words, this one speaks millions. Yet it screams one word: terror.
The caption reads: “An injured man lies at the back of a car before being rushed away from the scene of a massive explosion at the port of Lebanon’s capital Beirut on August 4, 2020. Two huge explosions rocked the Lebanese capital Beirut, wounding dozens of people, shaking buildings, and sending huge plumes of smoke billowing into the sky. Lebanese media carried images of people trapped under rubble, some bloodied, after the massive explosions, the cause of which was not immediately known.”
#4
This picture portrays the case of many homes, those lucky enough to have not completely collapsed. Till today, residents are still working to clean and rebuild their city – with barely any help from the government.
The caption reads: “A woman sits amidst the rubble in her damaged house in the Lebanese capital Beirut on August 6, 2020, two days after a massive explosion shook the Lebanese capital. The blast, which appeared to have been caused by a fire igniting 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate left unsecured in a warehouse, was felt as far away as Cyprus, some 150 miles (240 kilometres) to the northwest. The scale of the destruction was such that the Lebanese capital resembled the scene of an earthquake, with thousands of people left homeless and thousands more cramming into overwhelmed hospitals for treatment.”
