On August 4, 2020, around 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate exploded in a warehouse in the port of Beirut.
The detonation, one of the largest non-nuclear explosions to date, left the 160-hectare port largely in ruins.
300,000 houses and apartments were damaged or destroyed, and windows burst 20 kilometers away.
According to official Lebanese information, at least 190 people died and around 6,500 were injured.
Since the explosion, the Beirut people have been waiting for help, which their government has not provided. "So far, almost nothing has happened, except that people have helped themselves," says Mahayni, co-head of Hamburg Port Consulting (HPC). HPC, which belongs to the Hamburg port group HHLA, develops port facilities around the world or advises their operators on modernizations. The company has come up with a plan to help Beirut.