Abstract
The paper conducts a case study on the international urban search and rescue (USAR) response to the Beirut explosions in August 2020. The incident is worth analysing because it was the first of the international USAR deployments under global travel restrictions arising from the COVID-19 pandemic. It will closely look at the activity of @fire Germany, which is self-recognised as a light USAR team, deployed to Beirut. Due to the arrangements imposed for COVID-19 prevention, it becomes more difficult for international USAR teams to arrive in affected areas quickly, meaning that the possibility for life-saving further decreases. Thus, international USAR teams must be flexible to contribute to early recovery activity after the completion of the search and rescue phase. The @fire Germany’s response gives a good example of how light international USAR teams could contribute to early recovery. Also, some countries might not want to receive or send international USAR teams due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In the COVID-19 era, strengthening national and local teams, or first responders, who are already in-country becomes critical to saving more lives.
Highlights
On 4 August 2020, at 18:08, a warehouse containing a large amount of ammonium nitrate at the Beirut Port exploded
The study conducts a case study of the international urban search and rescue (USAR) operations in the 2020 Beirut explosions, with a focus on the @fire Germany team. It reviewed the reports issued by the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), European Commission (EC) and the International Search and Rescue Advisory Group (INSARAG) Information Management Working Group (IMWG) to understand the damage caused by the explosions and the response of the international teams
International USAR teams are required to update their status on the Virtual On-Site Operations Coordination Centre (OSOCC) (VO) website, which is run by OCHA to coordinate the international emergency operations
Summary
On 4 August 2020, at 18:08 (local time), a warehouse containing a large amount of ammonium nitrate at the Beirut Port exploded. The explosions killed at least 200 and injured more than 6500 people (INSARAG 2020c). The Lebanese government declared a 2-week state of emergency, and national and international urban search and rescue (USAR) teams were deployed to support the emergency efforts in the field. Widespread structural damage was reported at the port and the surrounding area. The Lebanese government estimated that the explosion had left more than 300,000 people homeless (OCHA 2020a)
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