How the Beirut explosion brought Lebanon to the brink of collapse

[Music] this is beirut's port the main port for the whole country of lebanon and look at it destroyed blown up by an explosion which many lebanese say was caused by the negligence and incompetence of their government it's not just the port that has been obliterated vast parts of the city have gone too 300 000 people made homeless nearly 200 dead they're talking about 6 000 injured and that has triggered a major political crisis [Music] the blast was caused by nearly 3 000 tons of ammonium nitrate carelessly stored in a warehouse now of course the government is promising that those responsible will be brought to justice but you have to ask how come huge amounts of explosive chemicals are left lying around for years in a busy working port it's not a question of find the guilty men one or two people the whole lebanese system is based on corruption nepotism and negligence for many lebanese this is the final straw they've been protesting against the government since last autumn furious about the way the country is run by factions who divide power amongst themselves and who have led lebanon into a devastating economic crisis this is a country on the brink of collapse so what's gone so badly wrong for lebanon if you look at a map of the middle east you'll see how tiny lebanon is surrounded by larger countries all competing for power in the region it shares a border with two countries hostile to each other israel and syria plus sitting on the mediterranean coast it's an important strategic ally for the regional power iran which is the bitter enemy of the other regional power saudi arabia so lebanon which was once a french colony sits at the crossroads of one of the world's most volatile regions some areas are largely populated by christians others are predominantly sheer or sunni muslim these groups might have lived together peacefully but they've become proxies for outside powers in 1975 tensions erupted into a 15-year long civil war that ripped the country apart parts of lebanon were then occupied by israel and syria for nearly two decades thirty years on power is still divvied up between religious factions and today's leaders are mainly the sons of the old warlords in recent years the shia islamist group hezbollah backed by iran and syria has become increasingly powerful operating both as a political party and a militia next door in israel they see hezbollah as a terrorist group and from time to time fighting still erupts over the border with israel in lebanon violence is never far away [Music] for a while despite all the violence the country managed to prosper investment and business flowed in much of it from saudi arabia after all this is a country with beautiful beaches a sophisticated cosmopolitan capital but the dream was too good to be true the money started to dry up and lebanon's national debts mounted part of the problem was what the government called financial engineering essentially they balanced the books by removing millions of dollars from local banks at high interest rates that allowed rich elites to profit from the country's own debts meaning that financial ruin became inevitable and then last year it all began to fall apart lebanon defaulted on its international debt the value of the currency plummeted there were mass layoffs the economy ground to a halt the price of food and other basic items skyrocketed people have lost their life savings while wealthy politicians have billions in foreign bank accounts the government decided that to fix the economy ordinary people should pick up the bill proposing large tax increases on tobacco fuel and phone calls people had had enough and ever since lebanon has seen protests and rioting and that takes us up to the 4th of august 2020 when 2750 tons of ammonium nitrate exploded in the port of beirut you see this wasn't just an accident but the result of everything that people here hate about their government incompetence negligence and corruption because the really crazy thing is that the dangerous chemicals that exploded had been sitting there in the port for six years and nobody had done anything about it it originally came from georgia in the caucasus supposedly banned from mozambique in southern africa it was loaded onto a russian-owned vessel which set sail in september 2013. going via turkey and greece before making an unscheduled stop in beirut but then the ship's crew went on strike because of unpaid wages the lebanese authorities refused to let the ship continue on its way apparently because the owner owed port fees the dispute dragged on and the ammonium nitrate was moved to a warehouse and left there reports say that last year a warning was sent directly to president misha lawoon saying that there was a real danger arising from these materials nothing happened until this [Music] it's hard to see how lebanon will emerge from this crisis hospitals are overwhelmed they don't have enough resources they've got coronavirus to deal with and now thousands injured by the blast people have gone back onto the streets clashing with police and demanding a total overhaul of the political system the emblem of the disaster is the broken carcass of lebanon's grain silo with ruined wheat and corn spilling out the country imports nearly all its grain now there's nowhere for it to land and nowhere to put it aid agencies warn of potentially catastrophic food shortages to come and no end to the financial misery this crisis has been a long time coming for lebanon people don't just want explanations or excuses they want to see an end to sectarian dynasties and manipulation by outside powers the lebanese want their country back you

Channel: Channel 4 News

Views: 694,824

Keywords: Channel 4 News, beirut, beirut explosion, beirut today, beirut lebanon, lebanon, beirut explosion today, explosion in beirut, beirut news, port, lebanon explosion, beirut live, beirut explosion video, beirut footage, beirut lebanon explosion, beirut live explosion, beirut blast, blast, beirut explosion news, beirut explosions, beirut explosion videos, beirut protests, lebanon protests, beirut protest 2020, lebanon protests 2020, beirut blast explained, beirut port

Id: BTVPpXKaP6E

Length: 7min 37sec (457 seconds)

Published: Mon Aug 17 2020

Reddit Comments

[u/69LeftNut]

It has already collapsed since a long time ago... I don't think anyone knows the meaning of "collapse"

This is a failed state with no hope

[u/trustdabrain]

Do we need a reminder ?