‘Air Was Sucked out of the City’: Beirut Resident Describes Moments After Blast

Rescue workers and security officers work at the site of an explosion that hit the seaport of Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2020. Residents of Beirut stunned, sleepless and stoic emerged Wednesday from the aftermath of a catastrophic explosion searching for missing relatives, bandaging their wounds and retrieving what's left of their homes. AP Photo/Hussein Malla

A Canadian artist from Montreal heard nothing but thought his apartment in Beirut had been hit by an earthquake as a massive explosion tore through the city’s port district Tuesday.

“The whole building shook, paintings fell, things broke, chairs moved. Like two seconds later, I heard the blast,” said Sami Basbous in a WhatsApp interview.