Girl, 3, dies in hospital days after Beirut blast ripped her from mother’s arms
A girl, 3, has died from the injuries she sustained in the Beirut port explosion, becoming one of the youngest victims of the disaster that has killed more than 150 people.
Alexandra Naggear was left buried under the rubble in her family’s flat after being ripped from her mother’s arms by the force of the deadly blast.
She had been watching the fire burning at the port from her high rise building in the Lebanese capital with her parents last Tuesday, Mail Online reports.
As the first explosion hit her mother Tracy, 33, picked her up and tried to shield her. But seconds later a second blast overwhelmed the pair and Alexandra was thrown across the room, hitting her head on a piano.
It took several minutes for her parents to dig her out from under the rubble, her grandfather Michel Awwad, 60, told the Daily Mail.
‘They were on the balcony just watching like most people,’ he said. ‘My daughter said she saw a huge grey object falling from the sky and she started screaming for them to run inside.
‘She was trying to cover Alexandra, she was holding her daughter and trying to cover her. But the pressure of the explosion was so intense and she couldn’t keep hold of her and they flew inside the house.’
The toddler was rushed to the nearest hospital by her parents on a motorbike but it had been closed off after being damaged in the blast so they had to take her elsewhere.
Michel said he managed to speak to his daughter on the phone and heard her screaming that she thought Alexandra was dead.
Tracy suffered broken ribs and needed more than a dozen stitches to her face. Alexandra was treated by doctors for three days before she succumbed to her injuries.
At least 158 people died in the blast and 21 are still thought to be missing, now presumed dead. Around 6,000 were injured. It was caused when 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate ignited.
Speaking to TV cameras, Alexandra’s father Paul, 36, said she was ‘not a martyr, she is a victim’. He told the government: ‘You killed us inside our homes. Renounce your parties and unite to overthrow the system.’
It comes after widespread protests over the weekend in Beirut as grief turned to fury at what demonstrators called the corruption and mismanagement of the country’s leaders which contributed to the blast being allowed to happen.
The country is in the grips of an economic crisis and its currency is collapsing, leaving many of those left homeless by the explosion struggling to pick up the pieces.
At least 728 people were injured in the clashes as police responded with tear gas and rubber bullets after being targeted by demonstrators throwing fireworks, molotov cocktails and stones.
Lebanese PM Hassan Diab said that he will call an early election and his Information minister Manal Abdel Samad resigned yesterday.
Alexandra’s grandfather said he was used to hard times in his home country, having lived through the 15 year civil war, but has now given up hope.
He said: ‘I have seen tragedies in Lebanon since 1975. Every time we say it will get better. I don’t believe this anymore.
‘This country is run by war criminals. This time people are fed up, some want to stay and fight but the majority who have the chance to leave will leave.’
Several people have been arrested as an investigation continues into the cause of the fire. The ammonium nitrate, a chemical used in fertiliser, had been seized from a Russian ship six years ago. Many knew it was there but it was never moved.
The scale of the blast has been compared to an earthquake and was about a fifth the size of a nuclear bomb. It wiped out much of the surrounding area and left a crater that’s about 140ft deep.
On Sunday world leaders pledged more than 250 million euros to help Beirut recover from the blast.
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