The massive explosion that rocked Lebanon’s capital on Tuesday has left the Lebanese National Rowing Centre seriously damaged but reports suggest that rowers and coaches were safe because the centre had been closed for four days amid Covid-19 restrictions.

The explosion at Beirut’s cargo port, where 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate was being stored, decimated many parts of the city, leaving at least 135 dead and more than 5,000 injured in a massive blast that was heard from Cyprus 234km away. More than 250,000 were also left homeless as Lebanese authorities declared a two-week state of emergency.

In a country already reeling from a major economic crisis and a surging coronavirus outbreak, the explosion has left Lebanon in a state of shock, not least Lebanese sports officials who were counting the cost of the damage caused by the blast at the Lebanese National Rowing Centre, which is home to the country’s elite rowers.

As the rowing centre was situated across the channel from the cargo port – reports suggesting just a few hundred metres away but on the other side of the channel – it had suffered the brunt of the blast, with the centre resembling a war zone. Photos released by World Rowing shows the training centre had all but been destroyed, with the walls of the building collapsed. Boats that had been stored outside the centre had also been destroyed by the blast.

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World Rowing said on its website that the rowing centre had been closed for four days due to restriction of movement caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and that “no athletes or coaches were at the centre and current updates confirm that all rowers are safe”.