A Lebanese couple was in the middle of a wedding celebration when the massive explosion rocked Beirut, Lebanon on Tuesday.
Thankful to be alive: Israa Seblani, a 29-year-old newlywed, was posing for her wedding photos when a video of the shoot captured the deafening roar from the explosion.
- The footage meant to celebrate Seblani’s marriage to 34-year-old businessman Ahmad Subeih, also captured the shocking moment of the blast.
- Seblani, who works as a doctor in the United States, arrived in the city a few weeks ago for her wedding, responded to the explosion by helping to check on the injured in her area.
- Mahmoud Nakib, the cameraman for the wedding, captured the scenes as the couple rushed into a side street.
- Soon after the blast, the couple tried to carry on with their celebrations.
- “My husband told me to continue, we can’t stop. I was like okay, why not, we continue. I was not living the moment actually, I was, like walking, my face was smiling, my lips were smiling, that’s it, not more. Then we went to have dinner.”
- In an interview with Reuters, the couple narrated how the incident affected them the next day.
- “I have been preparing for my big day for two weeks and I was so happy like all other girls, ‘I am getting married’. My parents are going to be happy seeing me in a white dress, I will be looking like a princess,” Seblani was quoted as saying.
- The experience was terrifying for both who thought the explosion might kill them at the time.
- “I was shocked, I was wondering what happened, am I going to die? How am I going to die?” she added.
- Subeih, who is now waiting for his visa so he can live with his new wife in the U.S., says he was reminded of the confusion surrounding the blast.
- “We started to walk around and it was extremely sad, it was not describable by the devastation and the sound of the explosion,” he said.“We are still in shock … I have never heard anything similar to the sound of this explosion.”
- “There is a lot of damage, many people were killed and wounded. But also if I want to look at us, myself, my husband, the photographer – how we escaped unharmed, I thank God for protecting us,” she said. “This alone makes me feel optimistic and to keep the joy of the occasion that I came here to celebrate.”
Terrible tragedy: The explosion, which reportedly originated at a warehouse in a port in Beirut, has a current death toll of more than 130 and the number of injuries at 5,000.
- According to Lebanon’s Prime Minister Hassan Diab, the blast was caused by 2,750 metric tons of ammonium nitrate that have been kept unsecured in a warehouse for about six years.
- In 2013, the Russian cargo ship Rhosus allegedly brought the ammonium nitrate cargo to Lebanon, reports the New York Times.
- Destined for Mozambique, the ship was abandoned by the Russian businessman who had leased it due to reported legal disputes, and the ammonium nitrate was transferred to the dock warehouse.
- The incident sparked anger among the Lebanese people who condemned authorities for their apparent neglect.
Feature Image via Reuters
