It was her day off on Tuesday and nurse Jana Abla had driven to the family’s south Lebanon home town of Marjayoun when the huge blast ripped through Beirut port. In seconds, thousands were wounded and dozens were killed.
Despite being hours away from the capital, Jana jumped into action.
"I was watching TV with my mother and I saw that something big was happening. I could not see such a thing going on and not do anything, I had to act," Jana, 29, tells The National.
She drove as fast as she could back to Beirut, straight to her hospital in the Metn district on the outskirts. Walking in, she was hit by the scale of the disaster.
“When I arrived at the hospital’s emergency room, I saw mass casualties,” she recalls. “Blood was everywhere.”
Jana says she has never seen such a volume of injuries and patients in her seven years as a nurse.
“We were out of places, stretchers and chairs. We had people sitting on the floor receiving treatment,” she says.
“Definitely that was a day to be remembered in my professional career. The experience I lived through was not like anything I have experienced in my seven years of work … The scene in front of me was painful.”
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A woman stands inside a damaged restaurant. AP Photo -
People and employees attend a mass over the victims who were killed in the blast, at the Al-Roum hospital at Ashrafieh area in Beirut. EPA -
Workers are pictured at the devastated site of the explosion at the port of Beirut. EPA -
A man sleeps near a damaged car near the site of Tuesday's blast in Beirut's port area. REUTERS -
Workers line at the devastated site of the explosion at the port of Beirut. EPA -
French President Emmanuel Macron visits the devastated site of the explosion at the port of Beirut. EPA -
People and employees attend a mass over the victims who were killed in the blast, at the Al-Roum hospital at Ashrafieh area in Beirut. EPA -
A view of the port of Beirut on January 25, 2020, left, and on August 5, 2020, a day after the explosion. AFP -
Bride Israa Seblani poses for a picture in the same place where she was taking her wedding photos at the moment of the explosion. Reuters -
People stand with their belongings as they leave their damaged homes. Reuters -
A Lebanese man shows injuries on his back after the massive explosion in Beirut. EPA -
Men are seen sitting inside a damaged home, following Tuesday's blast in Beirut's port area. Reuters -
A pedestrian takes photos of a badly damaged building in Beirut. Bloomberg -
Lebanese Druze clerics check damaged cars. AP Photo -
A statue representing the Lebanese expatriate is seen in front of a building that was damaged by the explosion. AP Photo -
People walk with their belongings in the area of Mar Mikhael and Gemayzeh. EPA -
The curtains in the rooms of the Le Gray hotel in the Lebanese capital Beirut swaying in the wind. AFP -
A view of a damaged Fransa Bank. EPA -
People check damaged vehicles. EPA -
Volunteers clean the streets amid the wreckage. Reuters -
People carry belongings after evacuating their damaged housing units at area of Mar Mikhael and Gemayzeh. EPA -
A destroyed Bank Audi SAL branch stands in Beirut. Bloomberg -
A worker wearing a protective face mask stands at the entrance to a destroyed Fransabank SAL branch in Beirut. Bloomberg -
Volunteers carry brooms as they walk to clean the streets. Reuters -
A woman sits in front of a damaged building. EPA -
A general view of the Beirut port area after the massive explosion. EPA -
An aerial view shows the massive damage done to the Electricity of Lebanon building. AFP -
A view of the damaged building of the Lebanese fashion designer Zuhair Murad. EPA -
Volunteers gather aid supplies to be distributed for those affected by Tuesday's blast. Reuters -
Lebanese men clears rubble, one day after the explosion at the Beirut Port, in the Gemayzeh area. EPA -
Lebanese youth salvage a velvet sofa from a destroyed apartment in the Gemayzeh area of Beirut. EPA -
Lebanese activists take part in a campaign to clean the damaged neighbourhood of Mar Mikhael. AFP -
An injured Lebanese shop owner sits at her desk selling her wares. EPA
The massive explosion obliterated Beirut port and devastated much of the capital. More than 135 people have been reported dead so far and over 5,000 were injured. The number of casualties continues to rise.
Jana’s hospital was not affected by the blast, but it was quickly flooded with cases.
Several major downtown medical centres were badly damaged by the explosion and the city’s hospitals were quickly overwhelmed. Patients have been diverted to hospitals outside the capital and other countries have sent field hospitals and doctors to help relieve the pressure.
Despite the scale of casualties, Jana says the doctors, nurses and medical staff worked fast and as a team. “We needed to save people, each one of us had to do something … all departments were working together.”
The Beirut port explosion has come at a time when Lebanon is already facing dire setbacks. The healthcare system was already creaking under the weight of an economic collapse and the Covid-19 pandemic – which has seen a surge in cases in recent weeks.
“There is a saying that there is no emergency in a pandemic, but what if there is a disaster in a pandemic,” Jana asks.
She hopes the pandemic and the blast will make people think more about doctors and nurses, who often face abuse on the job, and hospitals that are struggling financially.
“People are starting to recognise what our role is, and the image is changing. People are starting to show their gratitude when we need it the most.”
