Beirut, You Broke Us

We made history! Everyone is now talking about us as we made it to the headlines of international press, we ranked the first places in devastation, pollution and corruption, what else?

We thought coronavirus pandemic mixed with economic collapse was our worst nightmare. We joked that it wouldn’t be complete without a meteor crash wiping us all out of existence, but the sad funny thing is our “little existence joke” came true and the memories aren't going anywhere.

Photo Hassan Ammar

Photo Mohamed Azakir

It wasn’t exactly a meteor crash but more like a nuclear bomb… any difference?  If the blasting hasn’t made us dead already, it surely killed us from the inside. If we haven’t cried on a relative we lost, we surely cried on ourselves, who cannot take it anymore. We won’t talk about disgusting politics, nor about scientific facts, because what matters at this point is our state of mind… Let’s talk about emotions, feelings, anger, rage, horror, panic, anxiety. We bet that every single Lebanese has gone through all this and was left speechless, breathless after witnessing the horrific earthquake, followed by the bombing sound, wrecked homes, shattered windows, smashed cars, screams of fear, blood everywhere and chaos at Beirut’s port, Quarantina, Gemmayze and Mar Mikhayil streets among others.

Beirut is just as broken as our hearts. This is definitely not Beirut, as we know it. This is just the worst of the worst nightmares that have ever happened. The following pictures of devastated Beirut are just a reflection of how people of Lebanon are feeling right now, but not our Beirut. Despite our broken hearts and lost of hope, the Phoenix shall rise up from the rubble again and fly freely over Beirut of our dreams.

Keep scrolling to watch the most emotional heartbreaking pictures of Beirut blast, but don’t leave without seeing how Beirut is slaking its thirst on Lebanese youth who are volunteering to clean the rubble:

Photo Adel Karam

Nurse rescues 3 newborn babies

Photo AFP