StoryCast '21: EP 12/21 The Beirut Blast: Ghassan's story
Unreliable Witness | Storycast
Sky News
4.3 • 728 Ratings
🗓️ 2 August 2021
⏱️ 19 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
He’d swapped shifts to allow him to attend an upcoming weekend trip with his wife and children.
A senior manager, 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 Zein Ja’Far, Sky News' Middle East News Editor based in Beirut, 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.
Episode 12 of the 21-part series is The Beirut Blast: Ghassan’s story.
*StoryCast '21 returns in September 2021, with an extended episode to mark the 20th anniversary of the 9-11 attacks.
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: [email protected]
For more on this story log on to www.skynews/storycast21
#StoryCast21
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | It's back, Trev. |
| 0:00.9 | And it's big. |
| 0:02.4 | How big, Connie? |
| 0:03.8 | Like this big! |
| 0:05.4 | Wow, that is big! |
| 0:08.6 | Argos's big red event is back. |
| 0:10.8 | Save on thousands of products with our big red discount codes. |
| 0:14.3 | There's more to Argos. |
| 0:16.1 | Offers n 25th of February, subject of availability in selected stores and Argos.com. |
| 0:22.6 | You're listening to Episode 12 of Storycast 21. I'm Jane Secker. |
| 0:29.1 | On August 4th, 2020, a nation struggling to cope with rising COVID-19 infections and, |
| 0:36.3 | crippled by an economic crisis |
| 0:38.2 | suffered a devastating disaster |
| 0:40.4 | that was to profoundly change the city |
| 0:42.7 | and the lives of its two million inhabitants forever. |
| 0:46.7 | Among them, a port worker and his family. |
| 0:50.3 | This is the Beirut Blast, Gassan's story. |
| 0:57.0 | My name is Zane Jafar. |
| 1:01.0 | I'm a journalist, I'm the Middle East news editor for Sky News. |
| 1:06.0 | I remember the day of August 4th, 2020, pretty vividly. |
| 1:13.6 | Our office and the flat that I lived in is based right in the center of Beirut. |
| 1:20.6 | Lebanon is in the grips of a really very devastating economic and political crisis. |
... |
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