Lebanon tragedy 2020

Multiple explosions have occurred in the city of Beirut, the capital of Lebanon on 4 August 2020. The blasts occurred at the Port of Beirut and left at least 100 people dead more than 4,000 injured, and many more missing.

Daily Current Affairs Quiz 2020

Key-Points

The explosion, according to the Lebanon government, was of over 2700 tonnes of ammonium nitrate stored for six years in a warehouse in the port. Multiple reports suggest that a huge tremor-causing explosion was preceded by a fire, possibly of firecrackers.

The explosion has occurred at the time when a UN tribunal is set to give its verdict in the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri, who was killed in a truck bomb attack.

The country has been bracing for the aftermath of the verdict of the case, which has at its core the age-old Shia-Sunni rift.

Lebanon

Lebanon is a country in Western Asia, bordered by Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus lies west across the Mediterranean Sea.

Beirut is the capital and largest city of Lebanon.

Beirut sits on a peninsula extending westward into the Mediterranean Sea.

It is flanked by the Lebanon Mountains and has taken on a triangular shape, largely influenced by its situation between and atop two hills: Al-Ashrafieh and Al-Musaytibah.