BEIRUT – A civilian army came down on the streets of Beirut after last week’s explosion. Arriving by buses from all corners of the country and armed with brooms, thousands of volunteers grabbed the areas hardest hit by the blast and remained there all week.
Every aspect of the reaction to the deadly explosion is voluntarily late. This was the Lebanese people who spent a lot to get a job that would be handled by the government in most countries.
The firefighter ran to the harbor to try to get the fire under control before the explosion happened. The Civil Defense immediately began digging through the rubble to find survivors. The Red Cross dropped the wounded to hospitals and treated them under the rubble across the city.
The August 4 explosion killed at least 171 people and injured thousands when a fire in a porter’s house ignited hundreds of tons of ammonium nitrate.
Outgoing Health Minister Hamad Hassan said on Tuesday that between 30 and 40 people were still missing, the Associated Press reported. Of those injured, 1,500 needed special treatment, while 120 remained in intensive care, he said.
When the immediate chaos erupted, thousands of people took to the streets around the blast area. They would have to move the rubble, weigh the blood and rebuild people’s lives because they knew the government would not. Their instincts were correct.
“We have to come together, the government has done absolutely nothing, not even the municipality. It is always up to us to build our city if they destroy it like this, “said Afif Ayad, the founder of” My People, My Responsibility, “a non-governmental organization.
“We currently live in a parallel world and have zero confidence in everything the government does. We do not need them and we do not like anything, ‘said Ayad. “We decide what we want. We feed each other and we fight together against them. It’s our city to get back on track, not hers. ‘
While volunteers helped with cleaning up, Protestants also took to the streets expressing their frustration with the ruling elite, accusing them of chronic maladministration and corruption that is thought to be behind the explosion, such as the country’s economic crisis and hardship. inequality.
Lebanese Prime Minister Hassan Diab announced on Monday that he and his government were stepping down as the outcome of the blast deepened a political crisis in Beirut. Diab said in a brief television address that he had come to the conclusion that corruption in the country is “greater than the state.”
Most people here are sad and angry; helping to bring the lives of others back together was the only thing they could do to feel less helpless about their country.
“Even if this is not about coming and doing a job that the government should do instead of us – it’s about the feeling that I have to do something about all the injustice that happened,” said Rami Mehio, a 26-year-old volunteer. .
Swirling under the sun of August, volunteers reinforced themselves with donations of food and water. The nightlife hubs of Mar Mikhael and Gemmayzeh were soon busier than a Saturday night.
“We had to turn down volunteers at some point the last few days, there were so many that you could barely get in here,” said Yusef Ahmed, the concierge of a building just 250 meters (about 275 yards) from the blast site.
“Some of the guys trying to do the heavy lifting are just kids, but you can not stop them, they are so determined to help.”
More than 60 volunteers stomped through metal windows, doors, glass and broken furniture up and down the blood-soaked stairs where bodies were pulled just days earlier.
Many who fled after the Beirut explosion have returned to houses already cleaned by strangers.
As the rescue mission of the volunteers was launched, it became increasingly tedious and coordinated. NGOs divided streets, each looking for a specific area so that the chaos could be managed effectively.
A week after the explosion, efforts have now turned to long-term recovery.
With Google maps, volunteers track where stacks of recyclable labels are wiped so they can organize pickups for the burnt glass to break into sand and then convert into usable glass.
In Gemmayzeh, one of the hardest hit areas, the NGO “My People, My Responsibility” has set up camp.
On a large paper map of their designated street, they draw out the houses they have attempted to assess the damage. Their volunteers include architects and structural engineers who inspect homes for structural damage as well as materials.
The various NGOs send between their engineers to each affected house. The data they gather will help the international community figure out what the city needs most after disaster, said Jack Ata, who coordinates volunteers at the base camp.
First aid, support for mental health and points for food distribution have come up to help the broken city.
On Friday, an army truck full of soldiers was watching as a group of men tried to pick up a wrecked car from the rubble of a storefront with their bare hands.
As the piles of rubble grew larger during the week, with no one coming to collect them, community groups rented machines to move it themselves.
“This city has been destroyed 100 times, and every time we rebuild it – but it will never be rebuilt by the government. It has always been rebuilt because of the people, ”said Ayad.
‘If you understand the level of disaster that Lebanon is: On a Monday morning, the streets are full of volunteers. This is what unemployment looks like. ”
