Within hours of the massive explosion that devastated neighbourhoods and killed more than 100 people across Beirut on Tuesday, people opened their doors to the hundreds of thousands made homeless by the blast.
Jad Haddad wasn’t in his Ashrafieh apartment when the shock waves ripped through Beirut’s streets. He was asleep 40 minutes away at his mother’s house in Jounieh.
“I got woken up by the blast; we thought it was an earthquake,” the 23-year-old medical student said.
Shaken, he and his brothers turned on the news and saw the scenes of devastation. Then they called neighbours and family in Beirut, who confirmed the carnage. Houses had been torn apart, shop fronts blown out and the streets were paved in shattered glass.
"So we opened our home because we genuinely believe we have a duty to our sisters and brothers in these sad sad times," he told The National.
His family was among the first to offer shelter to Beirutis whose houses were rendered unliveable within seconds of a massive chemical explosion at the city’s port. Officials have said it was caused by more than 2,700 tons of ammonium nitrate detonated by accident in a warehouse, after being confiscated from a cargo ship in 2014.
The scale of the damage was immediately apparent as people emerged, dazed and bloodied into the streets, heading for hospitals where overwhelmed emergency rooms struggled to treat more than 4,000 wounded overnight. Others packed what they could from their decimated homes and pulled suitcases over the debris.
Temporary shelters set up by the Lebanese Red Cross have the capacity to deal with about 1,000 of those affected, but according to Beirut City Governor, up to 300,000 have been displaced.
Across Lebanon, people have rallied to help. Thawramap, which usually pinpoints the locations of peaceful protests, set up an online map showing the spaces opening up in private homes, hotels and schools around the country.
By midnight, six hours after the explosion, more than 42 locations were offering rooms or beds to “thousands of people” unable to return home, the platform said.
“Please DM me if you or anyone you know needs shelter. My family home was not affected and is open. We can arrange for transport as well,” Joelle Eid wrote on Twitter.
Simon Khoury, a 35-year-old lecturer in digital analytics, was quick to offer up two bedrooms at his house near the city, posting messages via Facebook and Twitter as offers piled up under the hashtag #ourhomesareopen.
“Lebanese people may be severely politically polarised but luckily, when it comes down to supporting other people in need, they are unique in their motivation to help,” he said.
Mr Khoury had joined a work call on his balcony in the Dbayeh suburbs when everyone felt a strong shake. “Less than a minute later we felt the mega-explosion and froze for a second. I have a clear view of the Beirut port from my living room and in a minute I could see all of Beirut’s seafront engulfed in white smoke. It was a terrifying sight.”
Videos of a huge billow of pink smoke exploding into the sky give a sense of the enormous force of the blast, which was felt more than 150 miles away in Cyprus.
Rawad Taha watched the updates come in with mounting horror from his house in the US. Desperate to help, he started facilitating connections between people offering homes and those searching for a place to stay, finding accommodation for some 30 families displaced by the blast.
The sense of solidarity was immense, Mr Taha said, but this morning he woke up heavy with despair. Like many Lebanese, he wonders how his crisis-ridden country, already collapsing under a failed economy, corrupt political system, widespread protests and increasing cases of Covid-19, will survive this latest catastrophe.
“To be honest, I feel weak, I feel like we lost Beirut forever … for this reason I have booked the first flight to Beirut today to be on the ground with the people of my country.”
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Top goalscorers in Europe
34 goals - Robert Lewandowski (68 points)
34 - Ciro Immobile (68)
31 - Cristiano Ronaldo (62)
28 - Timo Werner (56)
25 - Lionel Messi (50)
*29 - Erling Haaland (50)
23 - Romelu Lukaku (46)
23 - Jamie Vardy (46)
*NOTE: Haaland's goals for Salzburg count for 1.5 points per goal. Goals for Dortmund count for two points per goal.
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
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- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
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RESULT
Valencia 3
Kevin Gameiro 21', 51'
Ferran Torres 67'
Atlanta 4
Josip Llicic 3' (P), 43' (P), 71', 82'
PSG's line up
GK: Alphonse Areola (youth academy)
Defence - RB: Dani Alves (free transfer); CB: Marquinhos (€31.4 million); CB: Thiago Silva (€42m); LB: Layvin Kurzawa (€23m)
Midfield - Angel di Maria (€47m); Adrien Rabiot (youth academy); Marco Verratti (€12m)
Forwards - Neymar (€222m); Edinson Cavani (€63m); Kylian Mbappe (initial: loan; to buy: €180m)
Total cost: €440.4m (€620.4m if Mbappe makes permanent move)
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
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- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
The five pillars of Islam
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Expert input
If you had all the money in the world, what’s the one sneaker you would buy or create?
“There are a few shoes that have ‘grail’ status for me. But the one I have always wanted is the Nike x Patta x Parra Air Max 1 - Cherrywood. To get a pair in my size brand new is would cost me between Dh8,000 and Dh 10,000.” Jack Brett
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“I think I’d buy a defunct footwear brand; I’d like the challenge of reinterpreting a brand’s history and changing options.” Kris Balerite
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“If I had all the money in the world, I’d live somewhere where I’d never have to wear shoes again.” Raj Malhotra
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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