Dangerous sea crossings are occurring in unprecedented numbers. "I can't believe that we've become that country where people feel like they have to escape," says a Lebanese software engineer.
As Lebanon reels from multiple tragedies, conservationists are pointing to one bright spot. They say a record number of endangered green sea turtles have come to nest on the country's shores.
The effort was launched after a sniffer dog named Flash signaled to his Chilean search and rescue team that someone might be alive under a pile of concrete and debris.
Since the Aug. 4 blast, the number of COVID-19 cases has increased by some 220%, according to the International Rescue Committee. The country is also coping with damage to medical facilities.
"Lebanese people have to help each other in the absence of a functioning state," says Hussein Kazoun of Nation Station, a volunteer disaster relief effort operating out of an abandoned gas station.
Saint George Hospital University Medical Center is located about a mile from the blast site. Doctors there say the facility was decimated by last week's explosion, calling the scene "an apocalypse."
After explosions convulsed Beirut, here is a selection of photos showing Beirut residents in their destroyed house or workplace, along with a glimpse of their experiences, in their own words.
World leaders, including President Trump, attended a virtual donor summit Sunday for recovery efforts after last week's blast. The event was co-hosted by the U.N. and French President Emmanuel Macron.
Large crowds thronged the city's center, blaming politicians and a culture of corruption and negligence for an explosion that killed more than 150 people.
Tuesday's blast came against a backdrop of ongoing, unaddressed government dysfunction. Some of the country's chronic problems may help explain how 2,750 tons of explosives were neglected at the port.
The investigation into the massive blast continues, a Lebanese judge says. The explosion has been traced to an estimated 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate stored in a warehouse.
The massive explosion leveled the city's port and scattered debris across a road thousands of feet away. The blast killed at least 100 people and injured thousands more.
