The devastation caused by a massive blast in the port region of the Lebanese capital on Tuesday has been felt throughout Australia’s Lebanese community, with efforts to set up a charity fund to go towards helping the victims being organised.
So far, , which sent shockwaves through the city and felt as far away as Cyprus. An Australian is among the victims.
The head of the Christian Maronite Church in Australia Bishop Antoine-Charbel Tarabay told SBS Arabic24 that it has been a “morning of tears” for him and his congregation.
He said plans were in motion to establish a fund for parishioners to donate to, which he hoped would be a collaborative effort involving all faiths within the Australian Lebanese community.
“It’s very sad and I would like to extend my condolences to the families of the people who died and also my support and solidarity with the people who were injured,” he said.
“I’m going to ask our Maronite community to offer prayers for Lebanon, for Beirut, for the people there and at the same time, we’re going to put together a crisis committee to start doing what we can do to help and support the families of those who are affected by this explosion."
NSW State Labor MP Jihad Dib said he immediately called relatives in Beirut after hearing news of the blast.
Smoke billows from harbor area with damage and debris after a large explosion rocked the harbour of Beirut, Lebanon. Source: AAP
“What a tragic way to wake up, I found out about this from a phone call in the morning, I was absolutely heartbroken.
“We have some family in Beirut and my brother has managed to get in contact with them, it took a while. Thanks to God they are OK, but I’ve also been spending the morning contacting the local community leaders, people that I know have got family in Lebanon to make sure their families are OK and they’re all just stunned about what’s happened, the shock of it.”
Officials in the country said they expected the death toll to rise further after the blast as emergency workers dug through rubble to rescue people and remove the dead.
It was the most powerful explosion in years to hit Beirut, and a surge in coronavirus infections.
Mr Dib, who represents the Sydney electoral district of Lakemba which has a large Lebanese community, said it was vital that the broader Australian community does what it can to support the victims through recognised charities.
Lebanese firefighters work at the scene of explosion at the Beirut Port, Beirut, Lebanon, 04 August 2020. Source: AAP
“There is such a big connection between Lebanon and Australia and of course with so many people of Lebanese origin living in Australia, the first thing is they want to make sure is that their family is OK,” he said.
“We need to remember that Lebanon was not in a good way before this, there was already a lot of poverty, there’s massive unemployment and there’s inflation. Life is very difficult in Lebanon, people are struggling just to get by with the basics.”
The President of Legislative Council of Victoria, Nazih Asmar, said the explosion is likely to compound the misery and hardship for the people of Lebanon.
People injured in the Beirut Port explosion receive first aid at Najjar Hospital in Al-Hamra area in Beirut, Lebanon. Source: EPA
"It’s too much for the people of Lebanon with the suffering they are going through," he said.
"There is a lot of sadness within the community. We are very frustrated, and we will show a lot of sympathy to the families of the victims.
"Even before the explosion, there are a lot of things not going OK in Lebanon. There are people suffering from hunger and people suffering from disease. I believe there is going to be a plan on how they are going to improve living in Lebanon."
Three hours after the blast, which struck shortly after 6 pm, a fire still blazed in the port district, casting an orange glow across the night sky as helicopters hovered.
SBS Arabic24’s Beirut correspondent Antoine Salameh said the explosion resulted in the “semi-total destruction of everything within the blast radius”.
“There's no home or building or structure that hasn't been damaged. Old buildings have collapsed from the shockwave in the Karantina district near the port of Beirut and along Gemmayze Street all the way to the outskirts of the Achrafieh district,” he said.
“The damage has even reached the presidential palace in Baabda. Baabda is a hill overseeing most of Beirut.”
Callers from the SBS Arabic24 morning talkback segment expressed their dismay.
Lebanese Australian Mervat said: "God help them. I blame the government and the politicians who failed to protect Lebanon. This country used to be safe. They forced us out into immigration and now we watch as this once great country is destroyed. Beirut used to be called the 'Paris of the Middle East'.”
Caller Hady said: "It's a disaster and the blame is squarely on the shoulders of politicians and leaders who mixed up politics with sectarianism. The real catastrophe isn't the explosion, but rather the aftermath. How are they going to rebuild Port Beirut? With what money? Just wait and see the price of the Lebanese currency plummet even further. No one has money to even buy medicine as it is."
