Ten lives sacrificed.
A year later, the Beirut Fire Brigade is still mourning the ten members of the Karantina barracks, located in the east of the Lebanese capital.
The rescuer Sahar Fares, and the firefighters Joe Noun, Rami Kaaki, Élie Khouzami, Charbel Hitti, Nagib Hitti, Charbel Karam, Ralph Mallahi, Mathal Hawa, and Joe Bou Saab had rushed towards the port, from which had arrived, on August 4, 2020, a call informing that a fire was in progress in hangar number 12.
Without knowing it, they actually rushed towards certain death, since a few minutes after their arrival on the scene, located a little less than a kilometer from the barracks, they were killed by the cataclysmic explosion that caused 204 dead, more than 6,500 injured and whose shock wave devastated several districts of Beirut.
In a video sent via WhatsApp by Sahar Fares, the young woman, who has since been nicknamed "the fiancée of Lebanon" because she was to be married a few months later, three of her colleagues can be seen trying to force the hangar door, a few seconds before the explosion.
It took nearly two weeks to find the bodies and remains of the entire team, and thus allow their families to organize their funerals.
#Beirut explosion, this image of the Firefighters taken minutes before the #BeirutExplosion may their souls 🙏 rest in eternal peace pic.twitter.com/RFkkbeYhav
- Elie Najm (@NajmElie) August 9, 2020
"I ask God not to relive a day like this again, because August 4 is a cursed day on Earth, a curse that killed Beirut, its inhabitants and its firefighters", sighs Lieutenant Aly Najem, charismatic spokesperson for the Fire Brigade, while heading towards the monument dedicated to the members of the barracks who died in the exercise of their function, on which the names of the victims of the explosion have been added.
"They were called in to fight a nuclear bomb with water hoses"
"A year after the explosions, we are destroyed from the inside, our hearts are destroyed, it is as if someone had lost 10 members of his own family," continues the lieutenant, in the ranks of the fire brigade since 1996. Nobody was not prepared for such a tragedy, they did not know what they were dealing with, they were called not to fight a fire, but a nuclear bomb, a monster, with water hoses ".
When it received the call from the port, less than 30 minutes before the explosions, the Fire Brigade was not informed that the hangar on fire had housed, since 2013, 250 tonnes of ammonium nitrate, as the Lebanese authorities finally revealed later on the night of August 4.
Lieutenant Aly Najem, spokesperson for the Beirut Fire Brigade. © Samia Metheni, France 24
"If this vitally important information had been communicated to us, we would not have dispatched any firefighter to the site, we would have acted otherwise and given the order to evacuate the city and to cut all the roads around the port in order to save as many lives as possible, said the officer bitterly. Our job involves risks, we are courageous and determined, but we do not want to die for nothing, our colleagues each had a story and dreams, they did not even have time to say goodbye to all those they loved ". Since August 4, four firefighters from the Brigade have been deployed within the port, responsible for assessing alerts in the area, and informing their superiors of the reality on the ground.
In the courtyard of the barracks bordered by the Charles Hélou highway, the memory of August 4 is omnipresent. Posters with the portraits of the victims and their names preceded by the mention "the martyr hero" are notably taped on a notice board a few steps from the main entrance, and on certain intervention vehicles parked in the courtyard.
The main building - of the Karantina barracks, headquarters of the capital's firefighters - itself bears the scars of the explosions. A year later, it is still being renovated, and remains supported by scaffolding over its entire length. "In addition to the loss of our colleagues and the wounded in the barracks, we no longer had a building, no more operations room, no vehicle, no ambulance, there was nothing left, everything was destroyed" , laments Lieutenant Aly Najem.
"Given the extent of the destruction, I can tell you that the victims have saved, despite themselves and with a single phone call, the lives of dozens of their colleagues," he continues.
Once at the port, faced with the gigantic fire, the first ten firefighters decided to call for reinforcements.
"Their call saved about thirty of their companions who, in response to their call, had left the barracks, a few seconds before it was completely blown out. If they had remained in their rooms, their offices or their canteen, they would have been killed ".
"More than friends, we were like brothers"
In the courtyard bathed in the blazing sun, several vehicles recently sent by Italy and France are awaiting final authorizations to be made available to the Lebanese firefighters.
Near the building under construction, the faces of the firefighters who circulate with an alert step remain serious and closed.
The fire brigade barracks are still under construction, a year after being heavily damaged by the explosions of August 4, 2020 © Marc Daou, France 24
Before the disaster, despite the constraints and stress associated with the profession, life in the barracks was characterized by good humor, frank camaraderie and the spirit of fraternity which reigned there permanently. The organization of shifts, which requires a firefighter to be present 24 hours in a row with his unit, before benefiting from two days of rest, had made it possible to forge very deep bonds between colleagues. Since the tragedy, many videos relayed on social networks testify to the happy days of the Beirut Fire Brigade.
"We lived here unforgettable moments, no one can really describe how our martyrs were people with big hearts, irreproachable angels even, says Megerditch Zomjian, says Migo, who was part of the same unit as the victims, but was on leave that day. More than friends, we were like brothers, that's how we spoke to each other. Since then nothing has been the same here, our morale is at zero ".
Megerditch Zomjian, said Migo, who was in the same unit as the victims.
© Marc Daou, France 24
After listing the names of the victims, Migo focuses on two of them, Charbel Karam and Ralph Mallahi. "I was very close to them, reveals the young 24-year-old firefighter, who joined the ranks of the Brigade three years ago. Sergeant Charbel Karam, father of two daughters, was a model for me, he had so much charisma and personality that I wanted to be like him, he was my idol. Ralph Mallahi was more than a brother, I got to know him more than my parents since we spent 24 hours together in the barracks ".
Migo remembers having long hoped to be able to find one of his ten colleagues still living under the rubble of the port.
"After the explosions, when we arrived in the enclosure of the totally destroyed and unrecognizable port, we tried as much as possible to convince ourselves that nothing had happened to our colleagues, he said, suppressing his emotion. We refused. the idea that they could be dead, even if a week later, we ended up realizing ".
Ten firefighters killed, hundreds of broken families
Like the whole Brigade, which recently took part in a filmed reconstruction of the last hours of the life of its heroes, the broadcast of which is scheduled before the commemorations of August 4, Lieutenant Aly Najem and Megerditch Zomjian are thirsty for justice.
"Like the families of the victims whose lives were shattered after losing a father, husband, son, or fiancee, we will not be appeased until we know why they died as martyrs. your martial lieutenant Aly Najem We want to know who is responsible, we are waiting for the investigation to explain to us why no one told us what was in the hangar, and what really happened there. Our colleagues, who were outside the port and who were sent to their deaths, gave their lives doing their duty, yes, but maybe they shouldn't have been there, at the foot of this hangar".
Lieutenant Aly Najem pictured in front of the monument dedicated to the martyrs of the Beirut Fire Brigade.
© Marc Daou, France 24
The families of the victims of August 4, as well as public opinion, impatiently await the results of the investigation led by Judge Tarek Bitar, which is encountering political interference.
In addition, the Lebanese power has refused any idea of international investigation, yet ardently demanded by relatives.
Thus, requests sent to Parliament and the government to lift the immunity of several elected officials who have held ministerial positions in recent years have so far been either refused or blocked, to the chagrin of Judge Tarek Bitar.
His predecessor was challenged in February after angering the political class by indicting the resigning Prime Minister Hassan Diab and three former ministers.
In a 127-page report released Tuesday, August 3, the NGO Human Rights Watch says several Lebanese officials "anticipated and tacitly accepted the deadly risks" posed by ammonium nitrate stored in hangar number 12. "Evidence shows damningly that the August 2020 explosion in the port of Beirut was caused by the negligence of senior Lebanese officials who did not accurately communicate the dangers posed by ammonium nitrate, knowingly stored this component in dangerous conditions and did not protect the population, "said Lama Fakih, director of the NGO's Crises and Conflicts Division and director of the Beirut office, in a statement.
William Noun, younger brother of the late firefighter Joe Noun, says he has confidence in the justice of his country.
"A year after the explosion and the death of my brother, there is still no justice, even if judge Tarek Bitar is working on it and the parties involved are starting to appear," he told France 24. Never in Lebanon, justice could be applied or indictments could not be pronounced before 10 or 20 years, but this time it can intervene a year and a half after the crime, that is to say I hope in 6 months ".
The investigation is "three quarters completed," said this week, a judicial source close to the case to AFP.
The judge hopes to announce the conclusions of the investigation "by the end of the year".
“Life is very difficult without my brother, who chose to be a firefighter to be fully in the public service and help others, adds William Noun. Like the hundreds of broken families, we will continue to raise our voices until that we obtain results and that justice be done ".
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