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August 4, 2021 marks the one year anniversary of the Beirut explosion which killed 211 people, injured 6000 and plunged the Lebanese city into a crisis.
Ghassan Hasrouty wasn’t supposed to be working at Beirut’s port on the day of the blast.
He’d swapped shifts to allow him to attend an upcoming weekend trip with his wife and children.
Ghassan had worked at the port for 38-years. He knew its rhythms well and anticipating that he may have to work through the night, he called home and asked for someone bring him a pillow and blanket.
Around the same time, Beirut based Sky News correspondent Zein Ja’Far, was working from his apartment, less than half a mile away when he noticed smoke coming from the port.
A fire was about ignite thousands of tonnes of ammonium nitrate, stored near Ghassan's workplace. The lives of the Hasrouty family, and Beirut’s two million residents were about to be changed forever.

In 2021, Sky News is marking some of the century’s biggest news events through the personal stories of lives defined by unforgettable moments from the last 21-years.
The Beirut Blast: Ghassan’s story is episode 12 of the 21-part series StoryCast ‘21

CREDITS

The Beirut Blast: Ghassan’s story was written and produced by Rob Mulhern with Zein Ja’Far.
Special thanks to Eli and Tatiana Hasrouty
Research and Digital by Tom Gillespie
Presented by Jayne Secker
Sound Design, Rob Mulhern
TV treatment, Victoria Hudson-Grant
Head of Radio, Sky News, Dave Terris
Design and graphics, Brian Gillingham
Social media, Chris Scott
Press and Marketing, Alexandra Horton
Email: storycast@sky.uk
For more on this story log on to www.skynews/storycast21
#StoryCast21