some small context for people who follow #Lebanon news less: Lebanon relies on imports for almost everything, including food and medicine/medical supplies. This is the largest & busiest national port (2nd largest has MUCH limited capacity of port #beirut), and the government has

stores of goods it keeps there--including wheat that has been destroyed. People are already dealing with inflation & rising food costs & smaller supplies & a strained healthcare system due to economic collapse of the country & a global pandemic. The short & long term consequences

of today will be exponential, unpredictable (but hindsight will make the domino chain obvious) and years in the making. If the explosion today is due to improperly stored ammonium nitrate or a fire that led to its explosion (there are reports of firefighters racing to the fire

& getting caught in the explosion), this is no accident. It is the result of murderous negligence, corruption, treating public goods & services as piggy banks for networks of clientelism, and a sense of total impunity on the part of the political class. There is no bottom.

And there is a fuel/ electricity shortage across the country