Rescuers searched for survivors in Beirut Wednesday after a cataclysmic explosion at the port sowed devastation across entire neighbourhoods, killing more than 100 people, wounding thousands and plunging Lebanon deeper into crisis. The scale of the destruction was such that the Lebanese capital resembled the scene of an earthquake, with thousands of people left homeless and thousands more cramming into overwhelmed hospitals for treatment.

The mushroom-shaped explosion – which seismologists said was logged as the equivalent of a 3.3 magnitude quake — and the scope of the damage drew nuclear analogies in many people’s accounts of the tragedy. (Photo credit: AFP)
In this drone picture, the destroyed silo sits in rubble and debris a day after an explosion at the seaport of Beirut, Lebanon. The massive explosion rocked Beirut on Tuesday, flattening much of the city’s port, damaging buildings across the capital and sending a giant mushroom cloud into the sky. (Photo credit: PTI)
Civilians carry a victim at the explosion scene that hit the seaport, in Beirut Lebanon. (Photo credit: PTI)
Aftermath of a massive explosion is seen in in Beirut. Rescuers searched for survivors in Beirut Wednesday after a cataclysmic explosion at the port sowed devastation across entire neighbourhoods. (Photo credit: PTI)
The scale of the destruction was such that the Lebanese capital resembled the scene of an earthquake, with thousands of people left homeless and thousands more cramming into overwhelmed hospitals for treatment. (Photo credit: PTI)
Injured men lie on the ground, waiting help at Beirut: the explosion scene that hit the seaport, in Beirut Lebanon. (Photo credit: PTI)
Fires burning at the port of Lebanon’s capital Beirut with its cranes in the aftermath of a massive explosion. (Photo credit: AFP)
The security forces sealed off a huge area around the blast site, turning away residents trying to reach their homes to assess the damage. (Photo credit: AFP)
A Lebanese army helicopter flies over Beirut port’s silo on August 5, 2020 in the aftermath of a massive explosion in the Lebanese capital. The rescue effort was slowed at night by the lack of electricity, which was already intermittent at best in much of the city before the explosion.  (Photo credit: AFP)
The aftermath of yesterday’s blast is seen at the port of Lebanon’s capital Beirut, on August 5, 2020. Rescuers worked through the night after two enormous explosions.  (Photo credit: AFP)
A ship is pictured engulfed in flames at the port of Beirut following a massive explosion that hit the heart of the Lebanese capital.  (Photo credit: AFP)