[ Fouad ] I thought it was a nuclear blast
[ Fouad ] Everything was destroyed, limbs and blood everywhere
[ Melvine ] I say to myself daily, 'I'm still alive'
But that's not due to my will to live… I just haven't died
[ Rawad ] Not all made it to hospital
[ Rawad ] The ambulances left the dead on the street and went to save others
[ Mireille ] When your child dies, you can't go back to normal life
[ Mireille ] We seem to, but we don't
[ Rami ] We witnessed that awful tragedy, and it sparked a revolutionary anger within us
[ Mario ] We don't care how these substances ignited
[ Mario ] We want to know who knew about the nitrates and why they did nothing
[ Hayat ] What do I feel here at the port?
[ Hayat ] Sorrow and rage
BEIRUT: PICKING UP THE PIECES
[ Hayat ] I see Beirut as a woman
[ Hayat ] This woman is very beautiful and well-groomed,
but everyone is trying to break her for this and wants to take something from her
[ Hayat ] That's how she ended up like this
[ VO ] «Life out of havoc» is how artist Hayat Nazer titled her sculpture.
[ VO ] After the explosion, she worked extensively in Beirut’s
streets, helping victims with their damaged homes.
[ VO ] She built her woman out of rubble and debris that she collected.
[ Hayat ] I found this clock in the street while we were clearing rubble after the blast
[ Hayat ] It looked exactly the same when I found it, time stopped at 6:07
[ VO ] This was the moment that froze many clocks in Beirut
[ VO ] This is the exact time of the blasts on August the 4th, 2020.
[ VO ] A warehouse containing a nearly 3 000 tonnes of ammonium nitrate blew up.
[ VO ] The material had been confiscated six years earlier and kept at the port ever since.
[ VO ] The customs service gave several warnings about
the potential danger, but nothing was done.
[ VO ] Almost 200 people died in the massive explosion. And another 6000 were injured.
[ Hayat ] I felt a lot of pain while working on this statue
[ Hayat ] I deliberately ruined it several times in the process
[ Hayat Nazer, artist ] I painted it with blood to express all the pain
[ Hayat ] Then I looked at it and said, 'No, I can't vandalise Beirut like that'
[ Hayat ] So I started all over, to fix it
[ Hayat ] The arm is made of pieces of a broken mirror
[ Hayat ] I wanted people to see their reflection in the arm when they looked at it
because we are also responsible for what happened
[ VO ] This sculpture once stood in Beirut’s port. But recent
events forced the artist to find a new hiding place for it.
[ Hayat ] I removed the statue
because some people from the authorities came and broke it a while back
[ Melvine ] When you live by the sea, you look at it and you're happy,
but when this building was built, it blocked our view
[ Melvine ] But thank God it was built: it deflected the explosion a little bit
[ VO ] This was Melvine before the port explosion. She hosted a Lebanese TV show.
[ VO ] Young and ambitious, she had great plans for her future.
[ Melvine ] The makeup shows the difference even more, so I try not to apply a lot
[ Melvine ] I couldn't imagine a 31-year-old like me
could turn into a 70- or 80-year-old woman inside
[ Melvine ] I just don't care anymore
[ Melvine El Khoury, journalist ] I don't care about what will happen tomorrow
or what I'm going to do tomorrow
[ Melvine ] I came from the kitchen, my brother and I were watching the fire at the port
[ Melvine ] I think he said, 'Come on, nothing to see here,' and we began walking away
[ Melvine ] That's where I got blasted into the wall
[ Melvine ] These are the marks left by the glass shards, and here's where I fell
[ VO ] Later, she learnt that she’d tried to call an ambulance,
then she called her friends, and asked them to pick her up.
[ VO ] Melvine can’t remember any of that. But she does
remember what was happening in the hospital.
[ Melvine ] It seemed like the end of the world,
and the victims were competing to die first, not to survive
[ Melvine ] I didn't expect I had a shard of glass in my eye or other wounds in my body
[ Melvine ] I didn't expect I had fractures on the left side of my body
[ Melvine ] My teeth were broken, and I'm getting dental implants right now
[ Melvine ] I had surgery on my face,
as the bone around my eye was completely shattered
[ Melvine ] I've had 3 operations and may have a fourth
[ Fouad ] That man's also had a tough time
[ Man ] Have you returned home yet? [ Fouad ] No, no
[ Man ] Anything new happening?
[ Fouad ] I think enough's happened to us already! Praise God!
[ VO ] Fouad is a taxi driver, which is his only source of income.
[ VO ] Both his home and car were severely damaged in the blast.
[ Fouad ] The main thing for a man is his family's well-being
[ Fouad El Herzek, taxi driver ] Everything I'd accomplished in life
was gone in an instant
[ Fouad ] Five minutes later, there was nothing left
[ Fouad ] We were here, this is the entrance
[ Fouad ] This is also some debris from the building
[ Fouad ] Everything's destroyed, the house is likely beyond repair
[ Fouad ] This is the entrance to my flat, everything's destroyed
[ Fouad ] My wife and son were standing here
[ Fouad ] She clutched him, but the shockwave pushed them out the window
[ Fouad ] She broke our son's fall, but broke 2 ribs and badly injured her back
[ Fouad ] The army came and inspected the area
[ Fouad ] They came to rebuild the house
[ Fouad ] They saw the house was uninhabitable, but it's been 4 months now,
and no one's done anything for us
[ Fouad ] What can we do? Sleep in the street? Basically, I'm now homeless
[ VO ] Thousands of people in Beirut were made homeless. The explosion didn’t
just destroy the port, it damaged buildings within a 10-kilometre radius.
[ VO ] 300 thousand residents lost their homes and so far,
they have received no compensation from the state.
[ Mireille ] We were at home, all in different rooms
[ Mireille ] Elias came and said, 'Look out the window'
[ Mireille ] I'm sorry…
[ Mireille ] I saw the fire and told everyone to go to their rooms and close the windows
[ Mireille Khoury, Elias’ mother ] I don't remember what happened next
[ Mireille ] I woke up and everything had been destroyed
[ Mireille ] I realised there'd been a blast and that I'd lost consciousness
[ Mireille ] I got up to find my children
[ Mireille ] Elias was on a chair with his eyes shut
[ Mireille ] My daughter was outside, it was clear that she was in shock
[ Mireille ] She was all covered in blood
[ Mireille ] I was injured too: my back, head, and arm
[ VO ] It was while she was still in hospital that Mireille
heard that her daughter had been badly injured,
and her son was comatose and in a critical condition.
[ VO ] But she never doubted that he’d get better.
[ Mireille ] I kept sending him voice messages:
[ Mireille ] 'Elias, you're strong, you'll wake up and be OK'
[ Mireille ] I had hope,
but he waited until I had gone out of the hospital…
and left us
[ Mireille ] We haven't returned to normal life since the explosion
[ Mireille ] There were 200 victims, but to get the number who died with them
you must multiply by at least 6
[ Mireille ] We appear to be living, but we're not
[ Mireille ] What life do I have now that I've lost my son?
[ VO ] Her daughter’s injuries needed multiple and complex surgery.
[ VO ] She rarely speaks to anyone now or leaves their home.
[ VO ] She is struggling to cope with the loss of her brother.
[ Nour ] He was the baby of the family, he was never meant to leave before me.
[ Nour ] At not one point I thought that I would lose him.
[ Nour ] I didn't spend time with him as much as I wanted to. But
after I lost him I realised that Elias was a part of my heart.
[ Nour Khoury, Elias’ sister ] And when he left I lost the part of my heart and
[ Nour ] I am never going to get that part back. Ever.
[ Nour ] If I could take his place, I wouldn’t even think twice about it.
[ Nour ] He is the kindest and purest boy that I’ve ever met in my life.
[ Nour ] If he doesn’t deserve to live, I don’t think anybody deserves to live.
[ Mireille ] I tell her she's our last hope
[ Mireille ] She gives meaning to our lives
[ Mireille ] My husband and I couldn't go on without Nour
[ Mireille ] What would we have to live for without her?
[ VO ] Mireille’s family couldn’t face returning to the apartment where Elias
died. She, her husband and daughter moved to a different part of the city.
[ VO ] After the explosion, hundreds of volunteers came to Beirut.
[ VO ] They gave food to people who needed it and
helped to clean the streets and clear the houses.
[ VO ] Diane came from France. She’s working on restoring a church.
[ Diane De Catuélan, volunteer ] We fill bags with gravel,
load them on our backs, and carry bags of cement
[ Diane ] I've never been so dirty and tired
[ Diane ] This is completely different from my usual job, that's for sure!
[ VO ] Diane is a lawyer. But she left her job and came here to help.
[ VO ] This isn’t her first visit to Lebanon. She was
here last year teaching French to local children.
[ Diane ] I'd lived in Lebanon for 4 months,
and then, thanks to the children and the Lebanese,
thanks to all the piety in this country, I really completely changed
[ Diane ] We fell in love with each other
[ Diane ] It saved me from many problems and changed my life
[ Diane ] I marked my devotion to Lebanon like this
[ Diane ] I got this tattoo the first time I was in Lebanon
[ Diane ] I felt born again, but for real things
[ Diane ] And, behold, this is a phoenix, a being that's reborn from its own ashes
[ VO ] Majd was also among the many who helped victims of the explosion — he
delivered food, repaired doors and windows and cleared rubble from the streets.
[ VO ] He lived in Beirut and worked as a bartender, and spent a lot of time in night clubs.
[ VO ] After the blast, Majd decided to settle in the country and become a farmer.
[ Majd El Kaawar, farmer ] I decided to grow vegetables that are
considered relatively rare in Lebanon
[ Majd ] I started to cultivate marrow, cucumbers, tomatoes
[ Majd ] Then broccoli too. Three varieties of beans
[ Majd ] Mum likes this one a lot
[ VO ] His parents live here too. At the time of the explosion,
Majd was visiting them. That’s what saved his life.
[ Majd ] After the explosion, I had no choice but to move here, to the countryside
[ Majd ] The atmosphere in Beirut was morbid. Death was everywhere
[ Majd ] This place is serene and beautiful. All your worries fade away
[ VO ] Majd is not by any means the only one to transition
from a glamorous city life to being a farmer.
[ VO ] Many young people have moved to the country. It’s hard
to find a job in the capital, where unemployment is rife.
[ VO ] And on a farm, at least there’s always something to eat.
[ Majd ] These are Swiss goats
[ Majd ] Here we make cottage cheese, regular cheese, shanklish
[ Majd ] We keep goat kids here
[ Majd ] We give them special fodder so they give more milk
[ Majd ] He's 2 months old
[ Majd ] I use my university experience in marketing and advertising
[ Majd ] I use Instagram. I come up with slogans, add captions to the pictures
[ Majd ] I post photos on Instagram and get big coverage
[ Majd ] I even reach those who live in Beirut. Now I offer home delivery to them
[ Majd ] Life in the city is simple, you've got
everything – deliveries, friends are near…
[ Majd ] But it comes at a cost – all that noise
[ Majd ] And that explosion…
[ VO ] The noisiest part of Beirut, which has the most
vibrant nightlife, is the Mar Mikhael neighbourhood.
[ VO ] It’s part of the Old Town and faces the port. It’s known for its bars and restaurants.
[ Rawad ] We were sitting here, at reception
[ Rawad ] After the 1st explosion, we ran out
and saw a plume of smoke, like a plane crash
[ Rawad ] Just as we got out, the second blast
[ Rawad ] Two of our patrons died, killed in the blast
[ Rawad Ghawi, restaurant assistant manager ] They lived for some time,
but were losing too much blood
[ Rawad ] Then they died. One in hospital, the other here. Nothing we could do for him
Rawad was injured too, but he didn’t go to hospital, he stayed to help others.
[ VO ] The dead and severely injured filled the streets. Because two local
hospitals were destroyed, it was 3 hours before the first ambulance arrived.
[ Rawad ] Not everyone made it to hospital
[ Rawad ] Patients who died in ambulances were left
in the street. Paramedics went to rescue others
[ VO ] The explosion damaged some 200 bars and restaurants.
[ VO ] The owners are still renovating this one.
Hello
[ Rawad ] No, not yet. The refurbishment will be done soon and we'll reopen
[ VO ] Rawad hopes to reopen in a few weeks.
[ VO ] But for the time being, all his staff have to tighten their belts.
[ Rawad ] We managed to save some money from our work here
[ Rawad ] We're trying to stretch it until the restaurant reopens
[ Rawad ] Some people got part-time jobs for this period
[ VO ] Lebanon’s economy was in deep crisis even before the
explosion. The port disaster only made things worse.
[ VO ] The Lebanese pound has plummeted to a sixth of
its former value and prices have skyrocketed.
[ VO ] Fouad used to provide very well for his family. Now he struggles to survive.
[ VO ] His car was badly damaged by the blast and he still owes money for the repairs.
[ VO ] He has no idea how he’ll repay the debt.
[ Fouad ] I make about a million (US$660), but my rent is 700,000
[ Fouad ] Petrol is also expensive, just like everything else
[ Fouad ] So, we can't eat whatever we fancy
[ Fouad ] We have meat once a month, whereas we used to eat it every day
[ Fouad ] I work for eight hours, sometimes nine
[ Fouad ] My health isn't strong enough anymore to work longer hours
[ Fouad ] I spend 20-25,000 ($13-17) on petrol per day
[ Fouad ] To earn this 25,000, I need to pick up 10 passengers
[ Fouad ] So, I need to drop off 10 passengers just to fill up my tank
[ Fouad ] Look at the meter, how much it costs
[ Fouad ] I filled it last night at 11, and I'm out of petrol again
[ VO ] Protests erupted in Lebanon after the blast. Thousands
took to the streets, calling on the government to resign.
[ Rami ] On August 4th, we felt how much the Lebanese people had suffered
[ Rami Merdas, protester ] And all this is the fault of the corrupt
government, of the mob that runs our state
[ Rami ] After witnessing that horrible tragedy,
we felt the revolutionary fervour burning within
[ VO ] In the centre of Beirut, on Martyrs’ Square, gallows
were erected for those responsible for the tragedy.
[ VO ] For the few who knew that ammonium nitrate had been stored at
the port with no safety precautions – and chose to ignore it.
[ VO ] Protesters occupied the ministries of Finance, Energy, and Foreign Affairs.
[ Rami ] Almost everything changed after August 4th
[ Rami ] I understood that in the last 30 years,
[ Rami ] Lebanon has been governed by a 'ghost' covered in a piece of cloth
[ Rami ] Now this cloth has come off and we can
see this rotten government that's been ruling us
[ VO ] Police tried to disperse the protesters with tear gas and batons
but the crowd replied by hurling stones and fireworks.
[ VO ] More than 700 demonstrators were injured in the clashes.
[ VO ] The government resigned, but the protests continued.
[ VO ] Ever more Lebanese citizens now want to leave the country.
[ VO ] Rami is one of them. He’s looking for a job abroad.
[ Rami ] There are several options in the works
[ Rami ] Nothing is set in stone yet, but perhaps
it'll be either the Persian Gulf region or Europe
[ Rami ] I'm an engineer. I design engines for military and civil purposes
[ Rami ] God willing, the crime situation will change in this country
[ Rami ] Perhaps I'll choose to live here again
[ Rami ] But as it stands, I've decided to change my life
[ Rami ] God willing, I'll leave the country at the beginning of the new year
10 firefighters, an entire unit, died fighting the fire that followed the blast.
[ VO ] Artist Hayat Nazer came up with her own way to honour the fallen rescuers.
[ Man ] These are martyrs' uniforms. Uniforms of firefighters and rescuers
[ Man ] They gave their lives for Lebanon
[ Hayat ] Since we had zero budget, I suggested using some items of their gear,
as well as their helmets and other things to decorate the tree
[ Hayat ] I also reached out to people on social media, asking them
to send letters expressing their love, gratitude and support
[ Hayat ] We printed them and put them on a fire engine
[ Hayat ] I also went to Beirut's fire department, to those who lost their friends,
their peers, in the blast. I asked them to write letters for the fallen
[ Hayat ] It was a very moving experience
[ Hayat ] I wanted to make a Christmas tree that would bring joy,
but also be a reminder of what happened, about the blast
[ Hayat ] So, it's a somewhat mixed feeling, of
bitterness and an attempt to celebrate life
[ Hayat ] It's Christmas, after all
[ VO ] ‘Christmas isn’t the same without Elias.’ The dead student’s
friends can’t bring themselves to celebrate the holiday.
[ VO ] Their classmate’s death came as a shock to them. This Christmas protest is
yet another way to attract attention and demand an objective investigation.
[ Yorgho Valassidis, Elias’ friend ] It's been 4 months since the blast, but
we still haven't learned anything about it
Now we're calling upon the UN, we ask them to look into this matter
[ Mario Nasser, Elias’ friend ] It's irrelevant to us
how these substances exploded
We want to know who was aware of the nitrate, why nothing was done
[ Mireille ] He was the kindest kid in the world. So, what, he died for nothing?
[ Mireille ] Just because someone couldn't make the right call?
[ Mireille ] Not just one person - many people couldn't
[ Mireille ] I don't know how many exactly there were in 6 years
[ VO ] The investigation into the port explosion is continuing.
[ VO ] So far, there have been about 30 arrests, including the
port’s former general manager and the customs chief.
[ Mireille ] Of course, it's not enough
[ Mireille ] Many other people that stand behind them are responsible too
[ Mireille ] I just don't believe it, and I'll keep calling for justice as long as I live
[ Fouad ] They're filming it for Russia
[ VO ] This is Fouad’s new home. He’s been lucky. A charity has paid a year
of his rent in advance. He could never have afforded it on his own.
[ Fouad ] As for the furniture, the fund helped with some amenities too
[ Fouad ] My sister gave us some of her stuff
[ Fouad ] This is the kitchen, but there's no washer.
[ Fouad ] My wife has to wash the clothes by hand
[ Fouad ] Nothing to be done about it. Washers are expensive these days
[ Fouad ] The stove and fridge were donated too.
[ Fouad ] They're used, but we're grateful nonetheless
[ Fouad ] Someone gave us a bed, some people brought some other things
[ Fouad ] So, we've set up a home bit by bit. We had no choice
[ VO ] Fouad hopes to receive compensation from the state. If not, he’ll be made homeless.
[ VO ] His rent may have been covered for a year, but
eventually, he’ll still have to repay the charity.
[ Melvine ] I used to ask God: 'Why me? Why did it happen in the first place?'
[ Melvine ] It's well-known that the Almighty protects us from all that's bad
[ Melvine ] After a while I realised I was lucky: nothing happened to my mum or sister
[ Melvine ] Most traumatising is my broken dream of starting a family
[ Melvine ] I can't put any hope in Lebanon anymore
[ Melvine ] I'm not selfish enough to have kids in a country that would kill them
[ Hayat ] I always say that I won't abandon this country and my family
[ Hayat ] I try to fight using a weapon called 'art'
because I can fight and bring about changes in this country
[ Hayat ] I hope that I will live and die here
[ VO ] Now Hayat is planning to open her own exhibition. The statue of a
woman symbolising Beirut has been given a second life - on canvas.
[ Hayat ] This is Beirut, a Beirut that was destroyed
[ Hayat ] Still, she remains beautiful, elegant
[ Hayat ] Beirut is a mixture of two things – beauty and passion for life