The International Committee of the Red Cross is working across Beirut to provide ongoing support to people in the city.
With more than 6000 people left injured by the August 4 blast, hospitals need urgent medical supplies. Wheelchairs and boxes of emergency supplies were delivered to St. George’s Hospital in central Beirut this week, including dressing sets, infusion sets, injection sets, splint sets, suture sets, glove sets. The hospital is one of three severely damaged in the explosion.
To respond to the huge health needs, the ICRC is supporting 13 hospitals along with other medical facilities across the city, distributing wheelchairs, crutches and mobility devices to assist people who were injured and providing mental health support to wounded people at our partner hospital Rafik Harari University Hospital, among other activities. Several people also received treatment at our war-wounded treatment centre in Tripoli in northern Lebanon.
At least 300,000 people lost their homes in the explosion, and many people in some of the worst hit areas are now living in damaged homes, only able to afford rudimentary repairs, if at all. After months of a spiraling economic crisis and battling the coronavirus pandemic, Lebanon was already in a fragile state and many families will struggle to get back on their feet.
Across Beirut, we are on the ground assessing the needs of those who lost homes and property, and have distributed more than 400 food parcels to displaced people, directly and through a local organization. The latest distribution reached dozens of families in the Karantina neighbourhood on Thursday, an area that is home to some of the city’s most vulnerable people, including many Syrian refugees
The ICRC is also supporting the authorities in repairing the most badly affected water system, which serves six hospitals and 120,000 people in Beirut, and is supporting our partner the Lebanese Red Cross in their work and in helping families trace their loved ones.
For more details on our response, please contact our spokespeople:
Rona Halabi, ICRC Beirut, ralhalabi@icrc.org +961 70 153 928
Ruth Hetherington, ICRC Geneva, rhetherington@icrc.org +41794473726
Frederic Joli, ICRC Paris, fjoli@icrc.org , +33 6 20 49 46 30
Francesca Dobson Suarez, ICRC London, fdobsonsuarez@icrc.org , +44 7590 832 523
Elizabeth Shaw, ICRC Washington, egormanshaw@icrc.org , +1 202 361 1566
SHOTLIST:
Locations: St. Georges Hospital, Achrafieh and Karantina Neighbourhood, Beirut Lebanon
Length: 03:44
Filming date: 11, 12 August 2020
On-screen credit: ICRC
Language: Arabic
Videography: Hiam Hilal, Charbel Barakat
Editing: Charbel Barakat
Format: HD, mp4, 166 MB / HD, mp4, 212 MB
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ST. GEORGE’S HOSPITAL, ACHRAFIEH, BEIRUT, AUGUST 11, 2020/Courtesy: ICRC
1.St. George’s Hospital’s team receiving medical supplies from the International Committee of the Red Cross.
2.Volunteers carrying the medical supplies at St. Georges Hospital.
3.ICRC team unloading the truck at St. Georges Hospital.
4.ICRC team touring the damaged ER section.
KARANTINA NEIGHBOURHOOD, BEIRUT, AUGUST 12, 2020/ Courtesy: ICRC
5.ICRC aid truck arriving to the distribution location in Karantina Neighborhood, Beirut.
6.Various shots of preparation and distribution of the food parcels.
7.ICRC Staff listening to people.
8.Child waiting for his grandmother to receive her aid boxes.
9. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Khaled Ibrahim, Syrian refugee living in Karantina Neighborhood, Beirut
01:57
“Due to the war and lack of security in Syria, we fled to Beirut.”
02:01
“I’ve been living in Karantina area in Ashrafieh for six years, since 2015.”
02:06
“We suffered a lot from the coronavirus crisis.”
02:11
“We used to be able to survive economically, but not anymore. When the blast took place, I got injured and I’m currently jobless.”
02:23
“My daughter used to love drawing and writing, the explosion affected her wellbeing.”
02:31
“She used to sleep alone in her bedroom, now she doesn’t fall asleep unless she is next to me and her mother.”
02:37
“She used to play with her sister, but not anymore.”
10: SOUNDBITE: (Arabic) Wafaa Al Khatib, Lebanese resident of Karantina Neighborhood
02:44
“What happened during the explosion was more like fiction!”
02:48
“The houses were damaged, lots of people were injured, including a critical case still at the hospital.”
02:55
“Kids on the street were blown away, even us, the ones who were in our homes.”
02:58
“Thinking about what happened makes you wonder if you’re dreaming, it was unbelievable.”
03:02
“Families were eating safely one minute, then everything was destroyed.”
11. SOUNDBITE: (Arabic) Hind Abbas, Lebanese resident of the Karantina Neighborhood, Beirut
03:04
“The living room was destroyed and the shattered glass injured my nephews and nieces.”
03:11
“My nephew is still traumatized, he’s unable to sleep, he keeps holding on our hands.”
03:17
“We put plastic on our bedroom windows, because winter is coming.”
03:23
“We are still living in our damaged home, because we don’t have any other place to go.”
03:28
“Unemployment is putting more pressure on us, the Lebanese people are suffering more than anytime.”
03:37
“We can’t see any bright future living like this.”
03:39 END