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Lebanon explosion: UAE community reacts to devastating blast

Dubai - Anguished residents in the UAE have been making continuous calls to their families and relatives back home.

Many Lebanese residents living in the UAE are in a state of shock and have sought support for those affected by the blasts in Beirut. Some said they had relatives who had sustained minor injuries and their homes destroyed.

Adan Jerkass said: "A cousin of mine was around the area at that time. Due to the blast, she suffered minor injuries. She sustained minor cuts."

Nihal El Masri said some of her relatives suffered from minor injuries. "All the glass in their homes was shattered."

She explained that her friends and relatives had to leave the city and rush to the outskirts in order to find medical care, as the hospitals in the city were "terribly overwhelmed". "It was really scary in the beginning, because my father is in Beirut and we weren't able to get in touch with him as the phone lines were down."  

Although Beirut is "used to" explosions, a distressed Nihal said she has never seen anything on this scale. "It is heartbreaking, to be honest. People have lost their homes in the midst of this pandemic; with the economic crisis and all this corruption, what will people do? Lebanon was once the Europe of the Middle East. What is the future of our country now?"

Another Lebanese resident Jad Khalek said all her loved ones are safe. "They were at different places around that time. But yes, the news, undoubtedly, came as a shock. After I heard what happened, I started making frantic calls home. It's really sad to see what happened. Some people initially thought it was an earthquake. Let's please pray for Lebanon and the Lebanese people."

nandini@khaleejtimes.com