Port worker thrown into sea by Beirut blast 'rescued by boat 30 hours later'
A Beirut port worker has been pulled from the sea 30 hours after being blown into the water by Tuesday's massive explosion in Lebanese capital.
At least 137 people are known to have died in the blast, with more than 5,000 injured. Damage caused by the shock wave from the explosion is believed to have left at least 300,000 people homeless.
Multiple search and rescue teams, including those from the Lebanese Red Cross, continue to work through the rubble to find anyone who has been trapped.
On Thursday a missing port worker was plucked out of the Mediterranean by rescuers more than 30 hours after the explosion, according to local news reports.
Bloodied but alive, Amin al-Zahed was rushed to Rafic Hariri University Hospital, al Arabiya reported.
However, his family have said they were unable to locate him at the hospital, and his current condition is unknown.
The explosion came as Lebanon experiences an economic crisis which has been exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic.
Lebanon President Michel Aoun said that 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate being stored unsafely in a warehouse caused the explosion.
Ammonium nitrate is an industrial chemical used widely in fertilisers as it is a good source of nitrogen that help plants grow.
It is also one of the main ingredients in explosives used for mining, quarrying, and civil construction.
A team from the University of Sheffield calculated the strength of the blast as being the equivalent of 1,000 to 1,500 tonnes of TNT.
This is about a tenth of the intensity of the Hiroshima nuclear bomb but far bigger than any blast from a conventional weapon.
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