Winnipeg woman in Lebanon mourning the loss of two cousins following Beirut explosion

A Winnipeg woman currently visiting family in Lebanon is mourning the loss of two cousins following a pair of explosions in Beirut on Tuesday.

Jamille Dalank was born in Winnipeg but has been living in Kab Elias, a municipality which is about 45 kilometres from the Lebanese capital Beirut, for the last year and a half.

Her 16 and 22-year-old cousins were near the explosions and were both killed in the blast.

“We were just talking a couple days ago and then all of a sudden they’re gone,” Dalank told Global News.

“My phone dropped out of my hand when my aunt was telling me.”

Dalank said the explosions were so powerful she felt the rumbling from her home, which is about a one-hour drive away.

“The house was shaking and I was screaming,” she said.

“I was panicking, thought that I was going to die from the shaking of the house. I thought it was an earthquake.”

Her family back home in Winnipeg is still in shock.

Dalank’s cousin, Susanna Tasse, said she didn’t believe the extent of the damage at first.

“It was just very difficult for it to sink in,” Tasse said. “You kind of feel like it’s a dream and it’s not.”

The cause of the explosion is still unclear.

All port officials have been placed under house arrest while an investigation is underway.

The death toll climbed to more than 100 Wednesday afternoon, with thousands more injured.

Tasse is asking Manitobans to help the country.

“There is a way to support,” Tasse said.

“Go through MIA online, Manitoba Islamic Association, and donate to Lebanon relief fund.”

Dalank has no immediate plans to return to Winnipeg, but said she is living in fear right now.

“I’m really, really scared,” she said. “It’s frightening.”

— With files from Rachael D’Amore, Reuters and the Associated Press

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