Home News International Moroccan Journalist Meriem Toumi Miraculously Survives Beirut Explosion
Moroccan Journalist Meriem Toumi Miraculously Survives Beirut Explosion
The Moroccan embassy in Beirut has also confirmed that a Moroccan woman who sustained injuries in the attack is receiving treatment.
Perri Huggins
Perri Huggins is an editor at Morocco World News.
New York – Moroccan journalist Meriem Toumi has miraculously survived the massive explosion that rocked Lebanon's capital Beirut on Tuesday evening.
The young Moroccan journalist who works as a BBC correspondent in Beirut was on a live television program when the room from which she was working felt the massive explosion.
A video circulating on Instagram shows the moment when the Moroccan journalist fell on the floor because of the impact of the explosion.
Meriem Toumi was interviewing Faissal Al Assil, head of the Moroccan Agency of Sustainable Energy, when she was swept down by the impact of the blast. As she was addressing questions to her guest, Toumi fell on the floor and started screaming, to the astonishment of Faissal Al Assil and a woman that appeared to be his colleague.
A few seconds later, she stood up and said an explosion had rattled Lebanon.
"An explosion in Lebanon," she said.
Meriem Toumi shared a video on YouTube later in the evening. She sought to reassure her family, friends, and followers that she was okay and nothing bad befell her.
"I wanted to share this video to tell people who tried to contact me, my family and friends, hamdoullah I am doing good. Never mind the bruises that I have on my front and in my shoulder," she said.
Toumi deplored what happened to Lebanon, and added that her office was destroyed.
The Moroccan embassy in Lebanon announced that a Moroccan woman was injured in the explosion that rocked the Lebanese capital, Beirut, on Tuesday.
The Moroccan woman who sustained injury due to the explosion works for a United Nations body in Beirut, sources from the embassy quoted by Maghreb Arab Press (MAP) have said.
The woman, who suffered broken foot bones, is receiving medical care.
The Moroccan embassy reaffirmed its determination to closely monitor the situation of members of the Moroccan community residing in the country.
More than 37 people were killed and over 4,000 people were injured in the explosion that shook Lebanon on Tuesday evening.
There have been conflicting reports about the cause of the blast. Lebanese authorities said the explosion took place inside a storage unit where over 2,700 of explosive materials that had been confiscated were stored unsafely.
But US President Donald Trump made a statement that has many wondering about the actual cause of the explosion and whether it was the result of a bomb or missile.
"Looks like a terrible attack," Trump said. When asked by the press if he was confident the explosion was an attack and not an accident, he suggested the former.
"It would seem like it based on the explosion," Trump said. "I've met with some of our great generals and they just seem to feel that it was not a – some kind of manufacturing explosion type of event. This was a – seems to be according to them, they would know better than I would, but they seem to think it was an attack. It was a bomb of some kind," he said.
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