In the summer of 2020, Lebanon had already been experiencing some of its worst days, due to a deepening financial crisis and the global pandemic. On August 4, things took a much darker turn. Hundreds of tonnes of ammonium nitrate detonated at the Beirut port, ripping through the capital and wreaking havoc. More than 200 people were killed and thousands injured. It destroyed homes, overwhelmed the city and shattered livelihoods.

This week, to mark the fifth anniversary of the Beirut explosion, Beyond the Headlines is revisiting a mini-series published in 2021, a year after the incident. It’s a four-part investigation that follows the events before, during and after that fateful day.

So how did the dangerous material end up in Beirut’s port in the first place? It starts with a ship and its Russian captain, Boris Prokoshev. In the first episode of the series, Prokoshev speaks about the ill-fated voyage from the start, how a detour brought him and his crew to Beirut, and how they got stuck there.

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LIFE 101: You MFERS ain’t Faced SH*T!!!