UNHCR / BEIRUT BLAST SYRIAN REFUGEES

Syrian refugees, who were among the Beirut blast victims, recall the horrors of the day as they try to overcome the trauma of the disaster alongside their Lebanese neighbours. UNHCR

• Categories: News & Features / News Stories / Unifeed
• Video Length: 00:02:46
• Production Date: 17 August 2020
• Asset Language: English
• Corporate Name: UNITED NATIONS HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR REFUGEES - UNHCR
• Subject Topical: DISASTERS; REFUGEES
• Geographic Subject: LEBANON
• MAMS Id: 2553968
• Parent Id: 2553968
• Alternate Title: unifeed200817a

Description

STORY: UNHCR / BEIRUT BLAST SYRIAN REFUGEES
TRT: 2:46
SOURCE: UNHCR
RESTRICTIONS: PLEASE CREDIT UNHCR ON SCREEN
LANGUAGE: ARABIC /NATS

DATELINE: 5-6 AUG 2020, BEIRUT, LEBANON

Shotlist

1. Aerial shot, destruction in Beirut port
2. Aerial shot, boom down, damaged buildings
3. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Aisha, Syrian refugee:
“To see my son bleeding from his head and us unable to stop it, that was the hardest thing. I was not aware I was injured too.”
4. Close up, Aisha holding her injured son close to her chest.
5. Med shot, Ahmed holding his injured son on the balcony
6. Close up, Ahmed showing where he used to live.
7. Wide shot, family sitting together.
8. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Ahmed, Syrian refugee:
“They heard a sound. I followed them. When they reached the middle of the room, all the windows and glass had fallen on them. I really cannot describe it.”
9. Med shot, damaged building where Ahmed and his family used to live.
10. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Aisha, Syrian refugee:
“It was something I never felt before. I thought the whole house exploded. I couldn’t see anything, it was dusty. I heard my husband shouting ‘Aisha, Oh my God, Oh my God, Yahya, Zakariya.”
11. Med shot, Ahmed and his injured son pointing towards the port
12. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Aisha, Syrian refugee:
“I wish safety to everyone, Lebanese, Syrians or other nationalities. We don’t wish to see anyone bleeding and injured on the street. My heart bled when I went down to the street.”
13. Med shot, Ahmed holding his sons sitting next to his wife.
14. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Aisha, Syrian refugee:
“He is now scared of everything and everyone.”
15. Wide shot, family.
16. Close up, injured kid.
17. Various shots, Ahmed putting tape around the house where he used to live
18. Wide shot, house where Ahmed and his family used to live in as concierge.

Storyline

Syrian refugees, who were among the Beirut blast victims, recall the horrors of the day as they try to overcome the trauma of the disaster alongside their Lebanese neighbours.

When they heard a noise that they thought it sounded like a plane, Aisha went with her children Zakarya and Yahya to the big window in the living room of the house where they lived as caretakers. Seconds later their world turned upside down.

SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Aisha, Syrian refugee:
“To see my son bleeding from his head and us unable to stop it, that was the hardest thing. I was not aware I was injured too.”

SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Ahmed, Syrian refugee:
“They heard a sound. I followed them. When they reached the middle of the room, all the windows and glass had fallen on them. I really cannot describe it.”

The two large explosions that rocked Beirut shattered all the windows and doors of the house and buried the two boys and their mother under debris of glass, wood and bricks.

SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Aisha, Syrian refugee:
“It was something I never felt before. I thought the whole house exploded. I couldn’t see anything, it was dusty. I heard my husband shouting ‘Aisha, Oh my God, Oh my God, Yahya, Zakariya.”

The Syrian family from Hassakah said they have never seen anything like this explosion and its aftermath, and its damage will for a long time be etched in their minds and bodies.