At the microphone of Europe 1, the editor-in-chief of "L'Orient le jour", one of the main daily newspapers in Lebanon, returned to the two explosions which upset Beirut. Emilie Sueur tells how the journalists lived this day, between astonishment and the obligation to inform. 

INTERVIEW

"We first received videos of what looked like a fire at the port, and by the time we understood what was going on, the explosion took place." Guest of  Culture Médias , Emilie Sueur, editor-in-chief of  L'Orient le Jour,  the leading French-language daily in Lebanon, returned to the two explosions that hit Beirut on Tuesday afternoon, and which were felt within the editorial staff from the newspaper, five miles from the epicenter of the explosion. "The building shook and I called out to journalists to get out of the premises because I thought it was an earthquake. And seeing the column of smoke, we understood that it was something else", recounts Emilie Sueur .

>> READ ALSO -  Lebanon: what we know about the two explosions that shook Beirut

Make a newspaper the day after the tragedy, obvious

The provisional human toll is substantial: at least 100 people have been killed and 4,000 injured. Many buildings and streets in Beirut have been devastated. "The city is littered with broken glass. In front of my house, the window frames fall halfway into the void," explains the journalist. Despite the disaster, the  L'Orient le Jour teams had to ensure the publication of their newspaper the day after the tragedy. Obviously, explains the editor. "I do not believe that it is decided, we have no choice, we must do it, this newspaper".

Except that Emilie Sueur recalls it: the whole city was affected by the strong blast of the second explosion. "A lot of colleagues have had their homes seriously damaged, so there was a little hesitation, which is normal, but everyone came back to their feet and understood without being told that it was very important to make this diary ". Even though the editorial office is still standing, the computer facilities have been affected. "We struggled with our IT technicians who saw their premises devastated and they worked very hard to reconnect all of this," recounts Emilie Sueur.

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Beirut pic.twitter.com/eZlcE2aLaN

- L'Orient-Le Jour (@LOrientLeJour) August 4, 2020

"Maintenance work in the port area" at the origin of the explosion?

Result, a special edition titled "The Apocalypse". The hour and the emotion, but the journalists of the daily start to investigate, explains Emilie Sueur. "We are calling contacts at the port. According to the first information that leaks, there would have been maintenance work in the port area." "But we are still guessing, there are still helicopters in the area, there are probably still victims under the rubble, so it's very difficult to have a clear understanding," warns the editor of L ' Orient by Day.

>> READ ALSO - Explosions in Lebanon: "We slept on an atomic bomb without even knowing it"

"After the shock, there will be anger"

"Our journalists are in the field, we send them to hospitals, we send them across the city to see how people are doing, but everyone is still in a state of astonishment," concludes Emilie Sueur. Invited a few minutes after her on Pascale Clarke's program, the Franco-Lebanese director and documentary maker Philippe Aractingi also explained that the Lebanese were "still in shock". 

Explosions in # Beirut # Lebanon: "After the shock, there will be anger and afterwards I hope for changes at the level of the government, of our country, because we are already more than on our knees. How to rebuild since the banks are bankrupt? " @philaractingi
# Europe1pic.twitter.com / NqaplLCtMV

- Europe 1 (@ Europe1) August 5, 2020

"I think that after the shock, there will be anger," he warns, before hoping for change in government. "And at the level of our country we are already more than on our knees (...) It's a coup de grace". For several years, Lebanon has been economically weakened. "The question is how to rebuild since the banks are bankrupt and do not provide access to money. It's even worse than just a bomb that killed people, it's a total lack at all levels ", concludes Philippe Aractingi.