Fear Hinders Foreigners Injured in Beirut Blast from Getting Immediate Treatment

Jordan's Minister of Foreign Affairs visiting the Jordanian field hospital in Ras Dekwaneh (National News Agency)
Jordan's Minister of Foreign Affairs visiting the Jordanian field hospital in Ras Dekwaneh (National News Agency)
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Fear Hinders Foreigners Injured in Beirut Blast from Getting Immediate Treatment

Jordan's Minister of Foreign Affairs visiting the Jordanian field hospital in Ras Dekwaneh (National News Agency)
Jordan's Minister of Foreign Affairs visiting the Jordanian field hospital in Ras Dekwaneh (National News Agency)

Abedel, a 38-year-old Bangladeshi laborer, stands in front of one of the field hospitals that provide medical services in Beirut’s Mar Mikhael district. His wounds were minor, or they might have not been serious if they were treated promptly, but he did not go to the hospital immediately after he was injured in the August 4 explosion that rocked the Lebanese capital's port, and his wounds have become infected.

"I was in Bourj Hammoud, and the glass fell on me," he says, using the few Arabic words he knows and pointing to his hand. He was afraid of going to the hospital because he did not have the money and because of his illegal status.

Many of these workers speak of a similar fear to that of the Lebanese, but for them it was doubled. Some of them suddenly recognized that they could not speak the language, others wanted to flee, only for fear of security forces or the army discovering they were staying in the country illegally. As for the gravest fear; it was to die without someone recognizing them, as one worker said in broken Arabic: “My family is not here. Who will know my name.”

Dozens of workers visit the rescue tents that were set up in the squares near the site of the explosion on a daily basis. Most of them did not receive appropriate treatment despite the Ministry of Health’s decision to treat all victims at its expense without discriminating between Lebanese and non-Lebanese, but this decision, of course, did apply to them. So, most of them decided to "bite the wound” in other words, treat it at home, like Hamza, another Bangladeshi worker, who was injured in his face and hand in the Nabaa suburb and decided a week after the explosion to treat his injuries in one of the field clinics because they are free of charge.

The explosion claimed the lives of 11 Bangladeshi, Filipino and Ethiopian nationals.

Unlike Abedel and Hamza, 24-year-old Mekdes, an Ethiopian worker in a beauty shop in Gemmayze, was not panicking about going to the hospital, but about dying before being found.

"I heard a loud sound and glass shattering. Everyone ran away and I was left alone on the shop floor. I didn't know what was happening and why I couldn't move." I did not think of anything except that I was alone, abandoned and forgotten, as if I were nothing," she said, stuttering.

Mekdes was able to go to the hospital with the help of a friend, but she was unable to get immediate treatment even though she had a head injury. “Take a (Panadol) pill, your injury is minor”, a hospital employee told her. He then added: "You should go to (Rafic Hariri) Hospital." She then went to another hospital, where she was treated.

Mekdes considers Beirut her second home. She has been working here for more than seven years. She is saddened by these words, but she says, with a smile: “Beirut is beautiful and will bounce back and become more beautiful. Perhaps, treating me is not a priority because I am Ethiopian."

Hundreds of workers lost their homes or part of them due to the explosion, especially those who live in areas close to the port, such as Nabaa, Sin el-Fil and Karm al-Zaytoun.

They had already been suffering from problems that were exacerbated by the dollar crisis and then the coronavirus epidemic. This had already pushed many of them to return to their country, and those who remained, either because they couldn’t buy tickets, as is the case for Abedel, or because they chose, like the Lebanese, to confront whatever comes next, as Mekdes said.



What to Know About the Flash Floods in Texas That Killed over 100 People

 Firefighters from Ciudad Acuña, Mexico, transport a recovered body on the flooded Guadalupe River days after a flash flood swept through the area, Monday, July 7, 2025, in Ingram, Texas. (AP)
Firefighters from Ciudad Acuña, Mexico, transport a recovered body on the flooded Guadalupe River days after a flash flood swept through the area, Monday, July 7, 2025, in Ingram, Texas. (AP)
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What to Know About the Flash Floods in Texas That Killed over 100 People

 Firefighters from Ciudad Acuña, Mexico, transport a recovered body on the flooded Guadalupe River days after a flash flood swept through the area, Monday, July 7, 2025, in Ingram, Texas. (AP)
Firefighters from Ciudad Acuña, Mexico, transport a recovered body on the flooded Guadalupe River days after a flash flood swept through the area, Monday, July 7, 2025, in Ingram, Texas. (AP)

Flash floods in Texas killed at least 100 people over the Fourth of July holiday weekend and left others still missing, including girls attending a summer camp. The devastation along the Guadalupe River, outside of San Antonio, has drawn a massive search effort as officials face questions over their preparedness and the speed of their initial actions.

Here's what to know about the deadly flooding, the colossal weather system that drove it in and around Kerr County, Texas, and ongoing efforts to identify victims.

Massive rain hit at just the wrong time, in a flood-prone place

The floods grew to their worst at the midpoint of a long holiday weekend when many people were asleep.

The Texas Hill Country in the central part of the state is naturally prone to flash flooding due to the dry dirt-packed areas where the soil lets rain skid along the surface of the landscape instead of soaking it up. Friday's flash floods started with a particularly bad storm that dropped most of its 12 inches (30 centimeters) of rain in the dark early morning hours.

After a flood watch notice midday Thursday, the National Weather Service office issued an urgent warning around 4 a.m. that raised the potential of catastrophic damage and a severe threat to human life. By at least 5:20 a.m., some in the Kerrville City area say water levels were getting alarmingly high. The massive rain flowing down hills sent rushing water into the Guadalupe River, causing it to rise 26 feet (8 meters) in just 45 minutes.

Death toll is expected to rise and the number of missing is uncertain

In Kerr County, home to youth camps in the Texas Hill Country, searchers have found the bodies of 75 people, including 27 children, Sheriff Larry Leitha said Monday morning. Fatalities in nearby counties brought the total number of deaths to 94 as of Monday afternoon.

Ten girls and a counselor were still unaccounted for at Camp Mystic, a Christian summer camp along the river.

For past campers, the tragedy turned happy memories into grief.

Beyond the Camp Mystic campers unaccounted for, the number of missing from other nearby campgrounds and across the region had not been released.

Gov. Greg Abbott on Sunday had said that there were 41 people confirmed to be unaccounted for across the state and more could be missing.

Kerrville City Manager Dalton Rice said during a Monday news conference he couldn't give an estimate of the number of people still missing, only saying “it is a lot.”

Officials face scrutiny over flash flood warnings

Survivors have described the floods as a “pitch black wall of death” and said they received no emergency warnings.

Kerr County Judge Rob Kelly, who lives along the Guadalupe River, said Saturday that “nobody saw this coming.” Officials have referred to it as a “100-year-flood,” meaning that the water levels were highly unlikely based on the historical record.

And records behind those statistics don’t always account for human-caused climate change. Though it’s hard to connect specific storms to a warming planet so soon after they occur, meteorologists say that a warmer atmosphere can hold more moisture and allow severe storms to dump even more rain.

Additionally, officials have come under scrutiny about why residents and youth summer camps along the river were not alerted sooner than 4 a.m. or told to evacuate.

Rice said Monday that he did not immediately know if there had been any communication between law enforcement and the summer camps between 1 a.m. and 4 a.m. on Friday. But Rice said various factors, including spotty cell service in some of the more isolated areas of Kerr County and cell towers that might have gone out of service during the weather, could have hindered communication.

Rice said officials want to finish the search and rescue and then review possible issues with cell towers, radios and emergency alerts.

Officials noted that the public can grow weary from too many flooding alerts or forecasts that turn out to be minor.

Kerr county officials said they had presented a proposal for a more robust flood warning system, similar to a tornado warning system, but that members of the public reeled at the cost.

Monumental clearing and rebuilding effort

The flash floods have erased campgrounds and torn homes from their foundations.

"It’s going to be a long time before we’re ever able to clean it up, much less rebuild it," Kelly said Saturday after surveying the destruction from a helicopter.

Other massive flooding events have driven residents and business owners to give up, including in areas struck last year by Hurricane Helene.

President Donald Trump said he would likely visit the flood zone on Friday.

AP photographers have captured the scale of the destruction, and one of Texas' largest rescue and recovery efforts.