Is unwilling from an unprecedented and devastating explosion that happened in the port of beirut the country is already in a series of long running crises so how would it deal with the fallout from the blast this is inside story. A welcome to the program. Its described by some as the great collapse the lebanese capital beirut is in a state of chaos and rule when many have been killed thousands injured hundreds misson and hospitals overwhelmed homes and businesses backed a blast that struck the city with the force of an earthquake has left the nation in shock. Initial reports suggest explosive materials stored in a warehouse for 6 years in beirut sport detonated about 2700. 00 tons of confiscated Ammonium Nitrate are thought to be involved its a fertilizer that can be used in bomb making Health Officials warned of a toxic cloud and urged people to wear masks and stay indoors beiruts governor about 300000. 00 people were displaced and the Economic Impact is expected to be devastating for the lebanese president michel aoun has announced a 2 week state of emergency and promised an investigation will reveal what happened by minister has sandhya brutal rated his pledge that those responsible will pay the price. Developed ambitious me what any lebanon is in a real crisis and i appeal to all all political factions Political Parties and Political Forces to cease to engage in rhetoric and to stand united including the representatives of the media we are all working rolling up our sleeves and i hope we can stand united to break through these dire days they know how the reports from beirut. Lebanese are waking up to a reality that many of them are still trying to comprehend a blast a massive explosion late on tuesday rocked the capital sent shock waves across the capital a people where pushed to the ground just by the sheer force of the explosion many many casualties you can see we are at one of the beirut neighborhoods damages everywhere houses buildings apartments shops peoples livelihoods all blown apart people it couldnt have come at a worse time for a country reeling from its worst economic crisis in decades hospitals have been overwhelmed to the Health Minister appealing for International Assistance because the country is running low on medical supplies theres a warehouse very close to the port the site of the explosion that has been destroyed and thats where they were keeping medical supplies so already levanon was collapsing already a financial crisis left at least 50 percent of the population below the poverty line and apart from shock people are angry theyre asking how could this have happened x. Highly explosive material being kept at a warehouse at beirut for 3 years who is responsible now Authorities Say that they will find out who was responsible but the answer from the street is you have been in power for 30 decades you are responsible you have to bear in mind that there is a protest movement in this country against those in power theyve been calling for a new leadership so little faith in the authorities they blame them for negligence or for incompetence or for corruption corruption is endemic at beirut court in fact the International Community says has told lebanon were not going to bail you out and give you the billions of dollars you need unless you fight corruption and one of those places is at beirut airport sent her there for inside story. Lets hear from some of the lebanese people who are. Demanding to know how this happened. I have been to the wall but have never seen to been like this before pan gold damages only material and wondering how cheap a human being is in this country we are going beirut was completely destroyed in the 2nd i was there were just sifting through the rumors hearing all the rumors and trying to understand what happened because there was lots of confusion lots of rage that this could happen with everything thats happening in the country that the cherry on top there comes a massive negligence or we dont know what it is or an act of terror we really dont understand but its just. Out of all that you have to worry about wearing a face mask because youre going to get coronavirus in the hospital for treating a small so. I think outreach would be the correct word to express what im feeling right now i will tell you i went to film in 2006 and went to the south of lebanon. But it took 30 days to do the same destruction we had it in one explosion if thats true you have never seen something. Before i introduce our guests lets speak to dr Edmund Abbott hes an adviser to the lebanese minister of health. Adamant hospitals have been damaged hospitals have been inundated with a number of wounded people give us some idea about the Biggest Challenges that the Health Minister is facing as we speak. Good morning unfortunately we meet today to discuss the tragic event that cured. Our beloved couple. In 2nd was almost destroyed. I mean you know you all know that we are going through an economy going to crisis add to that the koran or virus and then mick. And the blast i mean this situation in beirut is armageddon like its so real with the d amount the intensity and the scope of destruction is unimaginable we have 3 Major University hospitals Major University hospitals they are out of order now they are completely destroyed and some are some of the patients. Died within seconds of the explosions inside the hospitals and our other patients were injured. Beside the mission in this is we are having logistic difficulties to transfer them to other hospitals because we dont have the means. Also of us as you mentioned in the Previous Report the main warehouse of the ministry of Public Health its in the. Area close the port it was destroyed it contained major cancer drugs with major vaccines the major. Person respective equipment which means you will likely face a shortage in the coming weeks and months definitely definitely let me ask you this question you ition is a structure its very tragic indeed of say the least with many countries offering to step in and help could you give us an idea about what are the Top Priorities for for the for the Liberties Ministry of health now. Ok now the 1st emergency we need medical kits and surgical kits to be able to treat the wounded who are scattered around the hospitals and 2nd we need beds regular beds and i. C. U. Beds we need ventilators because we have 3 destroyed hospitals and also the purchased ventilators that we purchased as a government to face court on our spend them in they were destroyed at the port so we need also all d personal protective equipment and also we need medication medication our kind of medications for chronic diseases was the main warehouse that was destroyed you have mentioned earlier that 19 pandemic and the country is now forced to shift focus from the battle against co the 19th towards helping those who were wounded isnt this something that is likely to further compromise the health of thousands of people now not only invaders fall across the nation definitely definitely now the chorus will take advantage of the chaos. And. Whats happening on the streets and everybody in the wanted is Wearing Masks anymore because everybody is running around like crazy people finding their beloved ones in even Emergency Rooms or hospitals hundreds of people came in into the emergency room at once i mean for the coronavirus this is a feast and here it will definitely take advantage of that and the other hand we lost our main. And our stock of protective equipment our situation is catastrophic and we definitely need help from our brothers and sister countries this is going to be my last question to you dr edwin are both live on is what shocked our trade but you know the 1st reaction they had of the back of the massive explosion is that they were absolutely critical of the political establishment is saying that we have been abandoned by our leaders how do you feel about that well actually i feel the same i mean the situation in lebanon has has been deteriorating over the time and. The whole system is collapsing when at the at the current government we are trying to slow down. The decay process were trying to face the coronavirus pandemic which were trying to mitigate economical crisis but i mean the people are right the people who were d waiting 3030 years after the end of the civil war to have a have a real functional country and i guess. Rush far away from from that unfortunately from the c. D. s on fortunate events that are occurring definitely the lebanese people deserve but thank you thank you dr Edmund Abbott adviser to the lebanese Health Minister. Thank you now lets go to our panel joining us from beirut we have carmen jihad shes an associate professor of Public Administration of the university of the American University of beirut enquires austria we have hi cohen who is director of the lebanon project at the International Crisis group also in beirut we have journalist welcome to you or comment the question now being asked by many lebanese was this accidental or intentionally set off and i think this is something that might take some time before people would put together all the elements of the puzzle. Yeah well 1st thank you for caring to tell the story i know that theres a lot happening in the world right now i want to correct what you said to your guest before me people dont feel abandoned by their state weve you know that we have been taken hostage and we have been taken hostage for the last 30 years i dont want to count the numbers the disaster from last night people are stent picking up their loved ones bodies from under the rubble there are pictures all over of missing family members there are at least 300000 people affected by the bombing housing is destroyed i dont want to talk about that but i want to set the record straight in that we are hostage and just like 2020 has made us rethink a lot of the questions i think we need to think together and think with our friends and that they have or in the International Community what happens when a nation is taken hostage just because people are in power doesnt mean it doesnt make them somewhere and allowed an adjustment to speak on our behalf i dont know how the ministers advisor has the guts to go on t. V. And say that theyre trying all their best to fix their decay when it is the government that is piped up and that is advising that just bait and just had ive been on them because they havent got any form including and that sector ok so this is the narrative this is a story and this is how i would like us to think together today so that the battle is productive i see your point hike oh no you see now the general sentiment among the lebanese people expressed by carbon is set aside all the notes of them about whats happening i think one of the legitimate questions to ask is how on earth would you store such he used quantity of highly explosive material near over crowded area is it a failure of the Security Apparatus is it a state failure is it a combination of dysfunctional government. I would say all the above is the most likely explanation i mean as we know so far at home you know this ritual has been there for 7 years 67 years and the director general of the port supposedly has made more than one effort to get it removed from there and im sure if we start. Investigation of an investigation. Happened the responsibility for that will be pushed back and forth between various sides and that is just very indicative of. The mismanagement he does next us of corruption and mismanagement that is not only for the poor i mean its really a. Phenomenon that goes across the political spectrum. We were talking more in detail about those aspects of the political life in lebanon. What do you think should happen 1st government Officials Say that investigation is going to be launched people say no we want the political elite to step aside from where does the sentiment of the lebanese people stand right now. People are very angry theyve been very angry for most of their life who are a country thats constantly involved in wars and its consulate same group of men militia leaders who are leading them and if it wasnt a war in the streets becomes a war d over the contracts and thats why we have no Public Services you know we dont really have a state i think this is a misconception that this is a poorly performing state this is a group of militias competing with each other and some bankers thrown in. And so theres no real structure of a state because every militia want to take the government and its own direction they want to create their own way of managing a state so i dont really think its i think we get a little bit too lost in the personalities and some people have calling for revenge and and the guillotine and its very understandable but i think we have to address the structural problem which is that most states are actually formed when one party armed party wins and lebanon no party wins and thats because and actually the public loses as a result so these parties never win because every party is supported by foreign money the United States has its allies iran has its allies saudi arabia has allies france as allies so you cant really create a state structure in lebanon if the rest of the world d is always trying to vie ok or interest and use lebanon as a chessboard and so we have to address the structure of this country a small as addressing the structure of the political establishment 11 is concerned it is going to be a question for comment i mean i do understand your frustration about whats happening you know which has been echoed by the lebanese but then again ultimately tomorrow when you go to the polls liberties and being casting the votes according to 6 headlines i mean i think the change if it is to start to has to soften the people because it ill timothy they are the ones who vote for the same political elite the has been in power for more than 40 years 11. Yeah i think 2 things i think 1st of all that i have to correct you again about the way that you are diagnosing the problem this is not only based on anger but in fact what happened last night was a deliberate act there were 2700 euros of ammonium put near peoples houses and the cameras havent even started to film where there are a number of deaths so thats a deliberate attempt decision to place them there for 7 years not to investigate with what theyre needed and its not the fault of one group as have it was same nothing in lebanon happens without all of them agreed together and this is why were saying no trust and a system that can produce and investigation whose intentions and logistics of it that ethics we dont just ask for elections people voting under duress if you knew a bit about the lebanese elections you would understand a system of a web of clan to listen the way that the districts are gerrymandered the Election Results are always known and thats also the majority of them is dont vote so i think the question that i was trying to ask in the beginning is how do we think about people that are legitimately trying to represent a nations interest in a crisis when all these homes have been flattened to the ground when they dont even have the to them its in either from their people nor from the International Community and this has become known can we save lebanon from a Tipping Point that has occurred that we watch on the news you know years later afghanistan iraq syria and say oh i wish i could have that something maybe if we interviewed earlier perhaps there was another peterson i think lebanon is at that Tipping Point and i dont think we have time to blame the people on the court because its also in class not nor people who are not being able just lost their homes this is a responsibility that needs to be blamed on the top of the shows the people who hired the Port Authority and again not appointment and never happened singlehandedly being all humans in agreement that is the nature of close sharing that a narrative i think in the International Media today this couldnt have come at a worse time for lebanon a country which is grappling with collapsing economy dysfunctional government corrupt political elites to the point where people are other to laws about to start and how to start and i think this is the same problem facing the International Community. Yeah absolutely i mean so if you just imagine tomorrow somebody would come and rebuild this court or the brand new port in the place of the destroyed court when you have the same administration you have the same inefficiency and the same corruption and you dont go in youre really dont achieve anything its it is it would be like like building a house in quicksand right which is why the International Community has. Repeatedly and very clearly said. Were ready to help you guys were ready to do interest truck sure investment in all of this but there has to be basic reform and so far since last october and also throughout those negotiations with the i. M. F. There isnt very little sign that the Political Leadership is ready. Have even the political order that everyone now is talking about the need to dismantle and change they have inherited at the end of the civil war following the tifa grimm and do you think that political order should be replaced now and what kind of order do you have in mind as a lib unease. Well i think our 1st like to say that i dont i dont believe the International Community has lebanons best interest at heart i dont believe that aid is charity and i dont believe that everybody wants the best for lebanon i believe that countries operate according to their interests and you look at the last 304050 years of lebanons entire existence and it has not the foreign help has not been and the aid of love actually the foreign powers create and produce this system of these militias because they welcome them and their capitals and they arm them and they congratulate them and they give them legitimacy so i think ive been very careful to create this kind of moral argument that we are the bad people and the western countries are coming to save us this is not about morality i think this is about a system that does not work a country that makes no money a country that is in one of the worst situations ever surrounded by wars we cannot ignore the political and economic circumstance you cannot just create an economy the Global Economy is not forgiving to countries that make no products that have no Central Government have no infrastructure even to make products so i think that i dont want to get too carried away in the personalities at power i think its a good point that even if you change the personalities you still have this system in power and people do vote for a reason they vote for people who give them money and help them and thats what will vote anywhere in the world so i wouldnt blame people for voting for people who are going to give them money or poor and theyre hungry and they dont have the luxury of deciding on the most. You know Civil Society candidate but i mean is there as there is an opportunity here of course an opportunity here but i think that we have to be careful not to fantasize ok and romanticize too much about revolution because at the end they its money that makes countries succeed and having a good economy and a revenue and if we dont have a good economy theres going to be people robbing each other left right Center Common what weve seen over the last few years and new wave of prodemocracy activists and to corruption activists trying to build momentum only for that momentum to fade away because of the strength of the entrenched political idiots do you see a new approach in its full of those people to rally support among the live on these now and build a new force within the country. And there were always there if you want to call them prodemocracy activists there are always voices calling for peace secure Early Development another one even in the civil war and theres books written about this but i think youre right what youre alluding to i think at this time the level of anger and frustration nobody has seen anything like this and when lebanese people see it say weve never seen anything like this its big because weve seen a lot and so yes i do think that what started in october and got abducted because of the koran a financial collapse will take back to the street i think this time with less mcguiness and less anger but i think that the economic financial and mix situation is what we need to focus on right now because if people dont live through this crisis you know what be anybody to protest and i know that you know its not again not trying to make a moral argument but i think the International Community gave legitimacy to the system and participated in years of aid and Technical Assistance to pull out right now from institutions from refugee camps from demolished homes from women who are seeking shot at or Migrant Workers there are a lot of vulnerable population these are the people that will rise up right now who want to make sure that theyre going to live to see another day and im not sure with fuel shortage i mean it got bombed last night that people will live to see another day so i think this is a moment for really aint really a sort of barrier to it and the politics of it is inevitable their time is up i dont believe this medical class can afford can renew itself ever again but we need to live through with it right the crucial times ahead for the lebanese people in this common heiko them and thank you very much indeed for your contribution to the program. And thank you too for watching you can see the program again any time by visiting our website dot com for further discussion go to our Facebook Page thats facebook dot com for with a. J. Inside story you can also join the conversation on twitter that is a j inside story for me and the entire team here in doha i found out. Jump into the stream and julian on Global Community this generation will have to create its own potter sleep with social media on and will online be part of the debate let me put some comments to you when no topic is off the table is taking on all the systemic arliss that people of color have suffered not only now but for decades we are going to be to transform lives the way he gets human way to get business if were going to adapt to climate right out of this stream on out as they are on the deserted streets of bogota theyve become familiar figures couriers on bicycles delivering food or medicine to lock down colombians most of them here are venezuelan migrants they might go miss a mother of 4 says contagion is always on her mind none of them receive Health Insurance for their work and exposing themselves and very few seem to have it yet there may be a bright side people who look down on them as own skilled migrants now say theyre essential to control the virus i receive messages on the im seeing that we are you know so i was a nurse back home what im doing is not all that different from my passion helping others. Whove been dying team to see the war of words escalate between the u. S. And china all challenge us general Robert Spaulding and british diplomat and also kerry brown on whether the west is entering into a new cold war with china in a special edition of head to head you want to travel ban on china for much of the muslim to quote stop proposal we need a strict vetting process is to time and finally tell me again beijing we have a china centric world and then a world which is not china centric head to head on out his iraq. Every generation has a higher purpose. Ours is to stay out. This is al jazeera. Hello im adrian shot again this is that is live from doha coming up in the next 60 minutes lebanons cabinets agrees to place the number of ports officials under house arrest after tuesdays explosion that killed at least 135 people. The International Community races to send assistance to lebanon a country already struggling under the weight of an economic crisis and the pandemic. Flash floods cause more hardship and devastation for people in power