Three years after the deadly explosion at the port of Beirut, Dany Salameh still cannot move around without a walker because he cannot pay for his care. Like many other victims, this 39-year-old man feels abandoned by the Lebanese state.
“After August 4, the state forgot us,” laments this former sound engineer, stroking his dog in his apartment near the port. “I lost my car, my house, my job, my mobility… Yet no one took care of us.”
Dany Salameh was at home when the tragedy happened on August 4, 2020, and was thrown by the blast from one end of the terrace to the other.
The blast, one of the largest non-nuclear explosions in history, devastated much of Beirut’s port and surrounding neighborhoods, killing more than 220 people and injuring more than 6,500.
It came as the Lebanese economy began to collapse at the end of 2019.
The survivors blame the bankrupt Lebanese state for not having provided them with any medical or financial support, and for having blocked the investigation into the origin of the tragedy.
The shock of the explosion of August 4, 2020 aggravated the disease of Dany Salameh, suffering from multiple sclerosis, further limiting his movements.
His monthly treatment costs $140 and the twice-yearly injection he has been prescribed reaches $1,000. Added to this is an operation on the urinary tract which costs 10,000 dollars, which he cannot afford either.
As he has not taken his pills for several months, he ended up falling and injuring his head, he says, his skull surrounded by bandages.
Amanda Cherri, a former celebrity makeup artist, also had to give up her career because of her injuries and constant pain.
“My life ended here, someone stole my life in five minutes and I don’t know who it is,” says the 40-year-old brunette on the roof of the building where she worked, overlooking the port .
During the explosion, two huge mirrors collapsed on her, and the shards of two huge vases pierced her face and body.
Her left hand is paralyzed and she can only see with her left eye.
Sylvana Lakkis, who heads the Union of the Handicapped in Lebanon, estimates that 800 to 1,000 people suffered temporary or permanent damage after the explosion, in the absence of any census from the authorities.
“People who have become disabled have a right to lifelong support,” says Ms Lakkis. “Even today, many need treatment that they cannot afford.”
At least four survivors who became disabled after the explosion died in the past year because they could not afford treatment or because they received inadequate care, she said.
“The explosion did not kill them, it was their country that killed them,” she said.
Since the explosion, Mikhail Younan has been limping. This father-of-one needs an expensive knee prosthesis to walk normally, but he can’t even afford to see a doctor.
“If the Lebanese state had helped me, I could have had a more or less normal life”, regrets this 52-year-old gas delivery man.
“I lost a lot of customers, especially since with the power cuts, I can no longer climb the stairs” loaded with heavy gas cylinders.
He can no longer live without analgesics and anti-inflammatories, which cause him kidney problems. “Pain has become a daily companion,” he sighs.
Authorities said the huge explosion was caused by a huge amount of ammonium nitrate stored without precautions for years at the port.
The Lebanese authorities have refused an international investigation and are accused of having obstructed the local investigation.
Independent judge Tarek Bitar was forced to suspend his investigation for the first time for 13 months, due to around 40 lawsuits against him from politicians and intense pressure.
Last January, he resumed his work, but was prosecuted for insubordination by the attorney general after indicting several high-ranking figures, a first in the history of Lebanon.
“I have no more hope,” says Mikhail Younan. “Every time justice works, someone puts a spoke in its wheels”.
08/02/2023 05:11:21 – Beirut (AFP) – © 2023 AFP
