Moroccan Ambassador Recounts Near Miss in Deadly Beirut Port Explosion

The Moroccan diplomat was the guest of the Lebanese public television channel. Without mincing words, he looked back on this explosion that killed more than 180 people and injured thousands.

According to Mhammed Grine, he was not far from the port before the deadly incident occurred. "I left downtown 15 minutes before the explosion. I heard the sound of the explosion as I was about to enter a shopping center," he recalled.

Following the explosion, the diplomat found himself facing a dilemma: to enter the shopping center (in the event of a terrorist attack) and to leave this center (if it was an earthquake or an explosion inside the building).

10 seconds later, he finally came out of the shopping center to assess the extent of the damage, like the crowd. "I saw the fear in people’s eyes. These moments shared with the Lebanese, between life and death, will remain forever etched in my memory," he added.