Cap Anamur Takes Immediate Action After Explosion in Lebanon
A devastating explosion on Tuesday, August 04, 2020, in the port of Beirut, has so far resulted in 135 deaths and more than 5,000 injured. Cap Anamur project coordinator Volker Rath, leaves immediately for Beirut.
“The situation is almost unbelievable in terms of tragedy,” reports Volker Rath about the situation on site.
The images and videos from Beirut that reach us are shocking and the destructive force of the explosion is almost palpable on these films. Our team of Cap Anamur / German Emergency Doctors e.V. is about 50 km away from Beirut, but even here the effects of the explosion were still noticeable – even here the windows were shaking. Our project coordinator Volker Rath went directly to Beirut. He describes destruction the likes of which he has very rarely seen after disasters. “The image is almost unsurpassable in terms of tragedy,” he reports. The neighborhood around the port had been destroyed. The detonation had also caused significant damage in more remote parts of the city.
Standing together in a crisis
All emergency rooms and operating rooms are overcrowded due to the large number of injured. Acute emergency treatment was provided free of charge, including by private clinics. Since one hospital had to be evacuated, many patients were distributed to other hospitals.
The destruction makes entire urban areas uninhabitable
All apartments near the port and in the surrounding urban area are now uninhabitable – in one fell swoop, more than 250,00 people have been rendered homeless. In addition, the gigantic explosion completely destroyed large food stores, and without help many people in Lebanon will go hungry.
The situation in Lebanon was already critical in the run-up: lack of medicine, no medical care
Lebanon was already on the verge of collapse before this indescribable catastrophe. There is hardly any medicine in the country and no medical care for the population. The currency loses value every day, everything becomes more expensive: food, clothing, medicine are not affordable for many. 2 million refugees from Syria live in the worst conditions. For many Lebanese in need, the situation will now worsen.
Volker Rath has been working with Cap Anamur in crisis regions for almost 20 years. He has been to Indonesia, Pakistan, Philippines, , Somalia, Congo, Central African Republic and Lebanon.
Volker Rath: “We brought everything we needed from our warehouse to Beirut, as well as everything we could somehow get at short notice. Dressing material, protective masks, tetanus vaccines, disinfectants, sutures, infusions and anesthetics, because unfortunately the explosion also destroyed some stores with medical supplies.”