August 4, 2020, was a muggy day in Lebanon, the kind that sends you inside to hide in the AC or behind a fan. <i>The</i> <i>National</i>’s Beirut correspondent Finbar Anderson was sat scrolling Twitter when he saw videos of a fire at Beirut port. As a video journalist, it looked like a quick news story, so he grabbed his kit and was getting ready to head down. That’s when the blast blew a wall of glass across his living room. In a moment, his apartment was devastated and he was badly injured. As Finbar managed to get outside, he realised it wasn’t just him – the entire street, the streets beyond and much of Beirut lay in ruins. On August 4, 2020, the heart of Beirut was ripped apart by a huge explosion caused by 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate detonating at the city’s port. Finbar, like many others, spent the rest of that day being seen by doctors at blown-apart hospitals. The next days too were focused on recovery. Now, a year on, he sought to get answers to questions that so many in Lebanon have – who was responsible for the Beirut blast, how did the ammonium nitrate end up there, who knew about it and what caused the explosion. <i>The Blast</i> from <a href="https://thenationalnewsbeyondtheheadlines.podbean.com/" target="_blank">Beyond the Headlines</a> traces the events of that tragic day. In Episode 1, Finbar enlists Erin Clare Brown, <i>The National</i>’s Tunis correspondent and resident Russian speaker. They track down Boris Prokoshev, the captain of the <i>Rhosus</i> – the ship that first brought the cargo of ammonium nitrate to Beirut Port. Boris tells us about the ill-fated voyage from the start, how a detour brought them to Beirut and how it – and he – got stuck there. Over the next three episodes, <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/podcasts/beyond-the-headlines/2021/08/03/the-blast-episode-2-who-left-dangerous-explosives-in-beirut-port-for-six-years/" target="_blank">we’ll hear from officials at the port about how it sat there for six years</a>, who knew and why nothing was done. <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/podcasts/beyond-the-headlines/2021/08/04/the-blast-episode-3-the-day-beirut-exploded/" target="_blank">In Episode 3,</a> <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/podcasts/beyond-the-headlines/2021/08/04/the-blast-episode-3-the-day-beirut-exploded/" target="_blank">we’ll trace the events of August 4 and hear how the blast ripped apart lives and livelihoods</a>. And <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/podcasts/beyond-the-headlines/2021/08/05/the-blast-episode-4-the-beirut-explosion-one-year-on/" target="_blank">we’ll conclude with Episode 4 and look at what’s happened in the year since </a>the explosion, who has been accused, how life has changed and what justice the victims of that explosion are seeking.