Rebuilding Beiruts village in a city
A year ago Johnny Khawand saw the home he grew up in ripped apart by the massive explosion in a chemical dump in the port of Beirut, Lebanon \u2013 one of the largest non-nuclear blasts in history. For hours Johnny fought to save neighbours trapped in the rubble, seeing some die in front of him. Now, after months of restoration work, he\u2019s coming back to try to rebuild his life, hoping that the unique spirit of his close-knit, multi-faith neighbourhood \u2013 Karantina \u2013 will survive. As he enters his house again for the first time, memories flood back \u2013 both comforting and distressing. Johnny and other survivors have formed close bonds with some of the volunteers, including engineers and architects, who\u2019ve spent the last year rebuilding the district for free. They\u2019re passionate about restoring its ancient buildings exactly as they were before. But they\u2019re angry that they\u2019ve received no help from the Lebanese state, which is accused of negligence over the explosion. And Johnny and others now fear that wider redevelopment plans will bring in big money and change Karantina\u2019s character forever. Tim Whewell asks if Beirut\u2019s \u201cvillage in a city\u201d, with its many layers of history and memory, can survive?
Reporter and producer: Tim Whewell\nProducer: Mohamad Chreyteh\nEditor: Bridget Harney
(Image: Beirut explosion survivors Manal Ghaziri and Johnny Khawand outside the ruins of a neighbours' house in the Karantina district. Credit: Mohamad Chreyteh/BBC)