Abdelkader Ali Terras ‎

Abdelkader was born on December 21, 1968, in Kfardanis in Rashaya. He grew up and attended school in his home town. When he was old enough, he moved to Ain Anoub, and started working.

He was married, and had three children; he worked two jobs, he was a maintenance guy, and a valet for a valet parking service.

Abdelkader did everything in his power to keep family happy. He was fun to be around, generous, and brave. He had a talent for making beautiful designs from broken tiles, or little houses from matchboxes.

On August 4, it was his first day back at work as a valet in Zaytunay Bay, after the COVID-19 lockdown that closed most of the country’s tourism sector on Al-Adha holidays. When the explosion happened, Abdelkader was working his shift. He saw the smoke over the port, and asked his coworkers to go inside; he was closing the door when he was blown three meters away.

When his family heard the news, they were worried for him. They called his phone for hours, but there was no answer. At 9:00 PM, one of his friends answered the phone, he told them he evacuated Abdelkader to the American University of Beirut Medical Center, and that he was suffering from multiple wounds and fractures.

His family rushed to the hospital, they waited outside until midnight, when someone told them he was in a coma in the intensive care unit. On the second day, they learned he was suffering from an internal hemorrhage, and there was no hope for recovery. Abdelkader was declared brain dead, his condition deteriorated, until his heart stopped on August 18, and he was pronounced dead.