![]() But initial responses now from officials suggest that this might have been actually a tragic accident. SHERLOCK: You know, initially, a lot of people think Beirut, they think the Lebanese militia Hezbollah or the sporadic conflict with Israel. But as you have been reporting, Ruth, I mean, what are you learning about how it could have happened? And we should just point out, NPR's bureau was damaged in Beirut, but you happen to be in London where you're covering all of this. But this is like the destruction of the civil war happened again in a single moment. And he said, you know, Lebanese are used to damage from the country's 15 years of civil war. Now he's watched most of his life's work destroyed in the blink of an eye. And just to give you a sense of what they're up against, the landlord of our Beirut bureau, which is also damaged, is an architect who restores these beautiful traditional Lebanese buildings. Those Facebook groups are being used to coordinate the worst areas. And so there had been these Facebook groups set up where people were bartering goods to survive that. There's already a terrible economic crisis in Lebanon. ![]() But they're rallying to help the worst affected and try to clear the debris. Some of them have had their own homes damaged. And also there are, you know, hundreds of regular Lebanese who are just coming out onto the streets. There are aid groups on the ground, and the rescue effort is ongoing. So people are still very much trying to come to terms with this. There are miles of smashed buildings, and officials estimate hundreds of thousands of homeless. SHERLOCK: Well, you know, the damage from this explosion is catastrophic. MARTIN: What can you tell us? I mean, where are rescue efforts right now? What do we know? MARTIN: We've got NPR's Ruth Sherlock with us to talk about what's happening in Beirut. Thousands of buildings across Beirut are damaged, and Lebanese officials have ordered house arrest for anyone suspected of being involved in storing the chemicals that exploded. The death toll is now at least 137 with more than 5,000 wounded. Rescue workers in Beirut are still hoping to find survivors in all of the rubble after that massive explosion at the city's port.
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