Our Hearts Go Out To Beirut

I was in the middle of researching the hanfu revival movement when I saw some people on my FB feed start mentioning the explosion in Beirut. At first, I was saddened, but I didn't look into it until the news show I watch put out a video on it about 20 minutes later. Then I saw the video and was stunned by the damage. 

What we know isn't much at this point. According to the news, the government knew they were storing over 2700 tonnes of ammonium nitrate (a chemical commonly found in fertilizer and one of the easiest explodable things to get your hands on if you need a make a bomb, according to popular belief) after the ship carrying it was abandoned by its owner in 2014. Cue to 2020 and a fire at a nearby warehouse set off the highly explosive substance with the force of a 3.1 earthquake. 

The government doesn't think there was foul play, but they are still looking into it. Unfortunately, I won't have anything new to add to the mix. I just wish that someone had dealt with the chemical much earlier. That much in one place sitting that long would have gone up if someone smoked too close to it. If you have money, consider donating to whichever company you feel best handles relief efforts. There are a lot of people suffering over there, 200-300 thousand people that are now homeless and while only 134 dead have been found, its entirely likely that many more will simply never be found, leaving their families without closure. The full extent of the loss probably won't be known for weeks or years. 

My heart goes out to the entire city of Beirut.