Mahmoud Khaled
Mahmoud was born in 1966, in Bourj Hammoud; his family moved between multiple homes during the Lebanese civil war. He attended boarding school in Mansourieh, before they finally settled in Marelias, and he transferred to a mainstream secondary school.
He used to go with his uncle after school to work at the Port of Beirut. The 17-year old then, dropped out from school to provide for his family when his father abandoned them.
Mahmoud started from scratch and established his own company -Al-Khaled-, facing the Port of Beirut. He was a successful businessman, and his company became the second biggest transport and transit company in Lebanon. Mahmoud was honorable and modest, he completely changed his financial and living conditions, and used much of his profit to give to others in need. He offered housing for needy poor families and widows, and allocated monthly pays to help them survive their unbearable conditions.
Mahmoud was an honest man, even if it was against his own benefit; he was also forgiving with those who were unfair to him. When his wife Nour told him to be a little more assertive dealing with people, he used to tell her: "whatever I do, I do it in the name of God."
On August 4, and for the first time ever, Mahmoud asked his employees to leave early, at 2:00 PM, because there was no work load. He went home around 2:30 PM to have lunch and sleep for a while. At 4:30 PM, he told his wife he had some work, and left to the office in the port neighborhood to prepare work related invoices.
When a tragic explosion rocked Beirut city, Mahmoud was still at the office. Nour tried to call him but she could not reach him. The family looked for him in hospitals, but they did not find him.
At 2:00 PM the next day, the concierge of the building where Mahmoud's office is located, told his family he was evacuated to Clemenceau Medical Centre. Nour was told her husband arrived dead at the hospital; the hit he received on his neck cut his veins, and he bled to death.
Mahmoud tried to save himself, he walked down the stairs from the 5th floor to the 3rd floor, but he couldn’t walk anymore and he sat down; he was heavily bleeding. Someone heard his muffled pain sounds, and evacuated him to the hospital around 8:00 PM, two hours after the explosion; he had already passed away when he arrived there.