newshour weekend special correspondent leila molana-allen has more. >> reporter: "let him come back. dear god, just let him come back." at the entrance to the beirut port, the epicenter of tuesday's explosion, desperate families t for hours praying their loved ones will be found. zain is waiting for news of her husband, who worked her s he hasn't ben since the blast. inside, a scene of utter devastation. metal, plastic, and chemicals hangs heavy in the air, black ash ating every surface. packing crates spill out charredmihapen lumps amid the rising dust, barely recognizable as the freshly imported goods once stacked in these warehouses. a washing machine here, wbet might have a glass jug there. just a few days ago, this was a thriving port, beirut's lifeline to the rest o twisted, smoking metal is all that remains. and underneath that rubble, hun beings. these disfigured, crumbling ruins were once leba national grain reserve. 15,000 tons of wheat and 10,000 of corn were destroyed, now forming an unstable mountain of waste through which rescuers must wad dozens of countries have sent

newshour weekend special correspondent leila molana-allen has the story. a warning to our viewers-- some of the images are disturbing. >> reporter: at 6:08 p.m., a sudden blast devastated east beirut. the explosion destroyed geitaoui hospital, decimating its emergency room and intensive care unit. but that didn't stop the wounded and dying flooding through its doors. the makeshift e.r. extended out into the parking lot. many doctors and nurses who had gone home for the day rushed back to the hospital to help. moustapha al moula was one of them. >> ( translated ): it was a bloodbath. with some of the patients, i couldn't even put their faces together, couldn't tell where their airway was. >> reporter: working with what they could salvage from the destruction, staff also had to treat their injured colleagues. on the night of the blast, many doctors were injured, and so they immediately grabbed what they could to treat each other, to then be able to help patients. they sutured each other without anaesthetic to stitch up these wounds, and this is from an emerg

newshour weekend special correspondent leila molana-allen reports that trust in the government is waning and to help rebuild, some are taking matters into their own hands. >> the government is not here, s not anywhere, is not present. only lebanese people. students, elderly people, youth. we are building the try. >> reporter: the day after the blast, volunteers gathered in mar mikhae one of beirut's worst hit neighborhoods, to register victims' need distribute aid and plan how to rebuild. they're now getting three or four thoand volunteers daily, helping up to 15,000 people each day. these young people are repurposing skills like party orginanizg to coordinate a widespread humanitarian 30old maroun lost his own home and office and three of hie closest s were killed. he's been working 20-hours days for more than two weeks. and you're getting no government funding? >> and we will notanything from them. we don't want them. , we just want them to lead we'll take care of the country. orter: for nearly a year activists like these have taken to the streets demanding the downfall of a political

leila molana—allen sets in. thank you very much. leila mola na—allen in sets in. focused around "youth engagement for global action". five 14?22 year olds will be marking it in a special way, as they share their story with more than eight million people in the first—ever takeover of the british royal family's instagram account, @theroyalfamily. the initiative celebrates some of the inspirational young participants involved in the duke of edinburgh's international award and the resilience, they have shown during the challenges of covid—19. with me is duke of edinburgh's international award participants, metta and jordan — both injakarta in indonesia — and i'm alsojoined by rochelle in canada. hello to all three of you. great to talk to you today. let me begin with you, metta. you and jordan are both 14 you, metta. you and jordan are both 11; and taking part in the bronze award. how did you get chosen or selected to take part in this digital takeover of the instagram channel? it was actually a surprise to us. we never expected it. we think the royal family actually

we can talk now to leila molana—allen, reporter for france 24.egun by asking the same question. how did you hear the blast?” begun by asking the same question. how did you hear the blast? i was in the apartment about a kilometre away, i could see from the window, andi away, i could see from the window, and i was actually looking into... i could hear ambulances. he then heard what sounded like some sort of aircraft flying in currently low over the stood aircraft flying in currently low ove we're stood aircraft flying in currently low ove we're that d