Massive explosion rips through Beirut

A massive explosion tore through Lebanon’s capital on August 4 with the force of an earthquake, killing at least 200 people and injuring more than 6,000 others. 

Lebanese authorities have said the blast was the result of the detonation of 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate that had been stored unsafely at the port for seven years.

Beirut’s governor said dozens of people are still missing, many of them foreign workers.

The blast tore through thousands of homes, blowing off doors and windows, toppling cupboards, and sending books, shelves, lamps and everything else flying. 

Within seconds, more than a quarter of a million of the Lebanese capital’s residents were left with homes unfit to live in. Since the explosion, hundreds of thousands of people have been living in severely damaged homes, many without windows or doors. 

Estimates say 6,200 buildings were damaged.

UN agencies have warned of a humanitarian crisis unless food and medical aid are delivered immediately.

International donors pledged $297m in aid for Lebanon at a virtual summit on Sunday hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron. 

They said the funds had to be “directly delivered to the Lebanese population”.

This report was produced and edited by Al Jazeera NewsFeed’s Hassan Ghani.