“I was not so well-trained, but the Lebanese who would help me in the hours to come had the heartbreaking steadiness that comes from having lived through countless previous disasters. Nearly all of them were strangers, yet they treated me like a friend.” The NYT’s Vivian Yee survived the Beirut blast. Her piece about her experience is an homage to human kindness during disasters, and a reminder that while we’re all facing the pandemic, a lot of people around the world are facing it on top of a multitude of challenges that they already faced. Walk a mile in Vivian Yee’s shoes: I Was Bloodied and Dazed. Beirut Strangers Treated Me Like a Friend.

+ Beirut in state of emergency after blast as death toll rises and rescues continue.

+ President Trump told reporters that, it “looks like a terrible attack.” There was no evidence it was an attack. Ammonium nitrate may have sparked the Beirut explosion. (World leaders don’t listen to Trump’s comments much in moments like these, but the conspiracy theorists are taking it to the internet.)

+ Photos from the unbelievable scene from Time and Buzzfeed.