At 6:08 p.m. Tuesday, church bells rang and mosques simultaneously called the call to prayer, at the exact time when the explosion in the port of Beirut ravaged the Lebanese capital on August 4.
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The blast left more than 160 dead and 6,000 injured, nearly 300,000 homeless and triggered a political earthquake that has already brought down the government on Monday.
At the entrance to the port, several hundred people, mostly dressed in white, gathered, some from Gemmayzé, a nearby neighborhood devastated by the explosion.
Holding up placards each displaying the name of a victim, his nationality and a green cedar, emblem of Lebanon, they came to attention at the exact time of the explosion that blew up. entire neighborhoods.
Some were crying, others could hardly hold back their tears.
Images of the explosion and scenes of panic aroused in neighborhoods near the port, transformed into fields of tottering ruins, were shown on a giant screen.
“We will not mourn, we will not wear black until we have buried power,” said one of the speakers.
Another ran through the endless list of the names of the victims, which also scrolled across the screen.
“All, that means all,” chanted among the hundreds of people who came to pay tribute to the victims, to demand the departure of the political class that they make responsible for the tragedy.