Couple slammed over tasteless Beirut explosion photo

Josh Dutton
·News Reporter
Updated ·2-min read

A couple have been criticised for posing for photos in front of the Beirut explosion scene.

At least 170 people died when the port exploded in the Lebanese city last Tuesday after highly-explosive material stored for years detonated.

More than 6,000 people were injured with homes and businesses also destroyed in the blast.

But apparently it makes a great scene for a photo.

Images captured by AAP photographer Nabil Mounzer show a woman posing on a bridge overlooking the damaged Beirut port and grain silos.

A woman stands next to Lebanese flags on a bridge overlooking the damaged Beirut port and grain silos, in Beirut, Lebanon.
A woman poses for a photo in front of the scene of the Beirut port explosion. Source: AAP

She’s seen tossing her hair back over her shoulders. The debris from the blast is seen behind her.

The woman then takes a photo of the man in the same spot where she was standing.

Mr Mounzer’s photos haven’t gone unnoticed on social media with people on Twitter angered by the couple posing for pics at the site of a tragedy.

“I’m done with this country,” one man tweeted.

Another man added “that is messed up, at so many levels”.

“Tone deaf. Creepy. Ignorant,” another man tweeted.

People stand next to Lebanese flags on a bridge overlooking the damaged Beirut port and grain silos, in Beirut, Lebanon.
A man poses for a photo. Source: AAP

On Tuesday, residents marched calling for the resignation of Lebanese President Michael Aoun and other officials they blame for the tragedy.

"HE KNEW" was written across an image of Mr Aoun on a poster at the protest venue.

Underneath, it read: "A government goes, a government comes; we will continue until the president and the parliament speaker are removed."

Reuters reported that the president and prime minister were warned in July about the warehoused ammonium nitrate, according to documents and senior security sources.

An aerial view shows a partial view of the port of Beirut, the damaged grain silo and the crater caused by the colossal explosion three days earlier of a huge pile of ammonium nitrate that had languished for years in a port warehouse, leaving scores of people dead or injured and causing devastation in the Lebanese capital.
An aerial view of Beirut's port after the explosion. Source: Getty Images

Mr Aoun, who has pledged a swift and transparent investigation, tweeted on Tuesday: "My promise to all the pained Lebanese is that I will not rest until all the facts are known."

Residents of Beirut were still picking up the pieces as search operations continued for 30 to 40 people still missing and security forces fired tear gas at stone-throwing protesters in the fourth such day of unrest.

Khalil Haddad, a resident, said his house was destroyed.

"We are trying to fix it the best we can at the moment,” he said.

“Let's see, hopefully there will be aid and, the most important thing: hopefully the truth will be revealed."

with Reuters

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