Lebanon's devastating blast came in the middle of an unprecedented economic crisis, frequent power outages, and hospitals struggling to contain the coronavirus

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• On Tuesday, a seismic blast at the port in Beirut, Lebanon, killed more than 100 people and injured thousands more.
• The timing is devastating. Lebanon is currently in the depths of an economic and political crisis.
• The Lebanese lira, pegged to the US dollar, has depreciated 80% since October 2019. One in three citizens are unemployed, and 45% of the population live below the poverty line.
• The country's hospitals are also struggling with the coronavirus outbreak, with many experiencing shortages of personal protective equipment and ventilators. 
• After the explosion, many hospitals were so badly damaged that they could not admit any more victims.
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On Tuesday evening, an enormous dockside explosion rocked the Lebanese capital city of Beirut, killing at least 100 people and injuring thousands more.

The source of the explosion was a store of 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate kept at the docks since 2013, Prime Minister Hassan Diab said later on Tuesday. Emergency services are scrambling to recover any survivors from the rubble.

See the rest of the story at Business Insider

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