A powerful explosion at the Beirut Port ravaged the Lebanese capital on August 4, 2020. The massive blast devastated hundreds of lives and left more than 300,000 people displaced or homeless. Fortunately, the Language Wave team are safe and well. In this episode, Mariam tells us more about the explosion, her personal experience with it, and how people in Lebanon and abroad are responding.
Lebanese Arabic Transcript and English Contextual Translation
1
يوم التلاتا الماضي، بـ 4 آب 2020، وتحديدا المسا عالساعة 6 و8 دقايق، كان صرلي شوي واصلة عالبيت من الشغل، وفجأة بترج البناية كلا. بترج يعني بتهز أو بتتحرك الأرض بقوة. للحظة، فكرت إنو فيه هزة أرضية، بس بعد كم ثانية، بيطلع صوت انفجار قوي كتير ومرعب وبيفقع قزاز الشبابيك والبواب. القزاز ما تكسر، بس امتص الصدمة.
Last Tuesday, on August 4 2020, and specifically in the evening at 6 o’clock and 8 minutes, I had just arrived home from work, and suddenly the whole building shook. Betrej means shakes or in another words earth moved hard. For a moment, I thought that there is an earthquake, after few seconds, the loud and terrifying sound of an explosion is heard, and the glass of windows and doors pops. The glass did not shatter, but it absorbed the shock.
2
نطرنا شوية وقت بحالة من الارتباك والقلق لأن ما كان مبين شو صار وما كان بعد في شي عالإعلام. كل الناس فكرت إنو الحدث قريب كتير عليا أو بمنطقتا، لحد ما تبين إنو كل سكان بيروت وضواحيها وحتى المناطق برا بيروت، وصولا للشمال والجنوب، سمعو وحسو بانفجار ضخم كتير صار بمرفأ بيروت.
We waited for some time in a state of confusion and anxiety because it was not clear yet what had happened, and there was still nothing on the media. All people thought that the incident is very close to them or is in their area, until it turned out that all residents of Beirut, its suburbs, and even areas outside Beirut, all the way to the north and south, heard and felt a very huge explosion that took place at Beirut port.