On 4 August, a terrible explosion shook the Lebanese capital of Beirut. The city has been declared a disaster zone and a two week state of emergency has been put in place. The explosion was equivalent to a magnitude 4.5 earthquake. Its vibrations were felt even in the capital city of Cyprus, Nicosia, 250 km from Beirut. The city's governor Marwan Abboud estimated the damage from the blast in the port at $ 3-5 billion and added that the residents of the city who were left homeless could number in the hundreds.

The head of the Lebanese Interior Ministry, Mohammed Fahmi said that the explosion was caused by ammonium nitrate stored in the port of Beirut. It was seized from a cargo vessel and was stored in a port warehouse. Four months ago, a report detailed the major threat of storing such a cargo of explosive substances in the sea harbour. According to some reports, a short circuit happened in the warehouse, which caused a fire and then the explosion.

The current death toll stands at 135 people and the search is still ongoing. The Armenian Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported that 6 Armenian citizens were killed in the explosion. The ministry formed a working group to coordinate with the crisis structure of Lebanon to provide targeted assistance. Contact with Armenian community structures in Beirut has been maintained to assess their needs. Armenia's Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said that he was “shocked by the deadly blast in fraternal Lebanon.”

The Armenian structures in the city also reported heavy damages from the blast. The Lebanon office of Aircompany Armenia, the only Armenian airline that has an office in the country, has suffered heavy damage, with windows completely shattered and  severe property damaged. The Armenian Catholicosate of the Great House of Cilicia in Antelias also suffered great material damage. The Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) Dashnaktsutyun Party institutions in Beirut also were not spared from this explosion.

Azerbaijan and Georgia also sent their condolences to the Lebanese people. The Spokesperson of Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry Leyla Abdullayeva said that no information is available about the presence of Azerbaijani citizens among the victims of the explosion.