Beirut Blasts: Woman Risks Life to Save Child; Video Goes Viral Amid Racism Debate

The CCTV footage is being shared by many people who say that even at the time of destruction, humanity is alive.

Beirut blasts have not only shocked Lebanon but the entire world. As the news of destruction that left more than 100 people dead and thousands injured spreads, here is news of a woman risking her life to save a child from the effects of the blast.

The CCTV footage is being shared by many people who say that even at the time of destruction, humanity is alive. In the footage, it can be seen that a woman is cleaning a living room of a house with a vacuum cleaner with a child looking outside through the glass window. Suddenly, window glasses are seen shattering and the woman, without thinking twice, rushes to save the child.

Beirut blasts
A videograb of CCTV footage of woman saving a child during Beirut blasts. Twitter

The moment she hears a loud noise she gets into action and embraces the child and takes it to a safer place. Netizens are commending the woman for acting immediately. Even a second of delay would have left the child injured.

Politicizing a Humane Act?

The video has garnered 451,000 views within hours of posting it. Many who have shared the post claimed that the woman who saved the child is a domestic worker. But no details of the incident are available yet including the exact location of the house or the people being seen in the video.

This led to a discussion online questioning why everyone was assuming that the woman in the video was a domestic worker. Some netizens asked if it was because of the skin color of the woman seen in the video.

Beirut Blast
Twitter

Others slammed the debate and said that it the time to hail the woman for her bravery and there is no need to drag the racist factors into the discussion. "Why do you feel the need to politicize this? What can you possibly have to gain from trying to tarnish a purely heroic act? For goodness sake, there are many other opportunities. Not now," a netizen said.

Beirut Blast tweet
Twitter

What Caused the Massive Blast?

Two blasts shook Beirut on Tuesday evening. The massive blast struck with the force of a 3.5 magnitude earthquake. Regions as far away as Cyprus more than 200 kilometers across the Mediterranean also felt the tremors, claim reports. After a preliminary probe, it was found that about 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate that was stored in the Beirut port warehouse had exploded causing the destruction.

"It is unacceptable that a shipment of 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate has been present for six years in a warehouse, without taking preventive measures," said Lebanon Prime Minister Hassan Diab at a defence council meeting.

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