Backlash and Bewilderment 1 Year After Beirut Blast

The international community is joining the people of Lebanon in demanding answers as to what caused a massive explosion in Beirut a year ago that claimed the lives of 217 people.

Tens of thousands of demonstrators took to the central part of the city on Wednesday to mark the anniversary of one of the largest non-nuclear blasts in modern history. The proximity of the protests in the nation's capital to the location of the deadly incident cuts to the heart of the outrage by the Lebanese people, who say their government – and the nation’s ruling class – showed it didn't value their lives by allowing a large amount of ammonium nitrate to be stored at a port so close to civilians.