Two days after the explosions that ravaged the city of Beirut in Lebanon, the search for survivors continues in the streets of the capital. The provisional toll shows at least 113 dead and more than 4,000 injured. Already weakened by the coronavirus health crisis, hospitals are saturated. Europe 1 was able to meet patients and caregivers, affected by this night of horror. 

REPORTAGE

Two days after the double explosion that hit Beirut, the capital of Lebanon, the provisional toll shows more than 4,000 injured and at least 113 dead. The city's hospitals, already weakened by the Covid-19 health crisis, are still saturated. International aid is pouring in: France has notably sent three planes loaded with teams and medical equipment. After the explosion, the Lebanese experienced horror to treat their wounded. Europe 1 was at the Hôtel-Dieu hospital in Beirut.

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Saturated hospitals 

"I had to hold on to that person to finally find a place to help me. I knew if I didn't hold on I was going to die," says Jazz, 20. After her apartment collapsed, she was transported by moped to the nearest hospital. With her head open, she struggles to stay conscious. But this is only the beginning of her ordeal, because the establishments are all saturated and cannot cure her.

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"We went to different hospitals, but most of them were full, to their maximum capacity," she recalls. "We had to do almost four hospitals before one accepted me and treated me. It was a terrifying experience." After hours of wandering, she ends up being transferred to the same hospital as her brother, treated just above her, in intensive care.

"We were intubating on the floor"

To cope with the influx of victims, the operating theaters are in full swing. More than 24 hours after the explosion, six of the seven orthopedic surgeons at Hôtel-Dieu hospital are still on duty. Emergencies were overwhelmed. "We have never known a night like this", breaths an emergency doctor, tested. "That night alone was worse than thirty years of war."

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"We have never worked in these conditions," she laments. "We were intubating on the ground, there were corpses everywhere, seriously injured. People screaming, people looking for their families, who could not find people, so it was really heavy to bear. . "

If the pace calms down slightly on Thursday, this caregiver fears the worst for the future. She is particularly afraid of new collapses of buildings, weakened since the explosion.