On Tuesday evening, a massive explosion ripped across Beirut, killing at least 150 people and injuring thousands more. The scale of the damage was immense, with buildings miles from the port lying in ruin.
The Guardian’s international correspondent Michael Safi looks at the cause of the blast and the impact it has had on Lebanon, a country already on the brink of financial collapse
Beirut blast timeline: what we know, and what we don’t
‘None of them this time’: Lebanese vow not to let leaders off hook
In This Story: Beirut
Beirut is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. No recent population census has been conducted, but 2007 estimates ranged from slightly more than 1 million to 2.2 million as part of Greater Beirut, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region and the fifteenth-largest in the Arab world.
9 Recent Items: Beirut
In This Story: Lebanon
The official language, Arabic, is the most common language spoken by the citizens of Lebanon. Its capital is Beirut.
Lebanon was a founding member of the United Nations in 1945 and is a member of the Arab League (1945), the Non-Aligned Movement (1961), Organisation of the Islamic Cooperation (1969), and the Organisation internationale de la francophonie (1973).