Zoulbab Sajid Ali

Zoulbab (14) is the son of Sajid Ali, a Pakistani worker living in Lebanon. At school, he was a bright student who worked hard to achieve excellent results. Despite his young age, Zoulbab had big dreams; he wanted to become a professional basketball player, and thus trained at Michel El-Murr Sports Complex.

Sajid left Pakistan in 1996. In Lebanon, he worked at the port, and lived, with his family, in the Port of Beirut neighborhood for the past 24 years. His two children, Zoulbab and Hadil, were born in Beirut, a city he loved so much; little did he know this same Beirut that witnessed his family grow, will take the life of one of its members, in a horrible explosion.

On August 4, 2020, the country was in partial lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic. Zoulbab was home, playing a game on his PlayStation, while waiting for his father to return home from work. As soon as his father arrived, a huge explosion rocked the city, and shattered their family.

This was the most difficult moment in Sajid’s life. He came back to his senses to see destruction and blood all over his house. He says: "I saw every member of my family wounded and covered in blood, fighting to stay alive.  Who do I save first? My 3-year old daughter, my wife, or my son who was unconscious? I performed CPR on my son to resuscitate him but he did not wake up.”

Sajid screamed for help, people heard him and rushed to the rescue of his wife and two children. When he made sure they were all evacuated to the hospital, he was himself taken to Keserwan Medical Center in Ghazir. He did not know that his son Zoulbab passed away until the next day.

After this horrific tragedy, Sajid, who lost his fingers and had his leg amputated as a result to the blast, left Lebanon back to Pakistan, with his family, missing one beautiful member.

According to the medical report, Zoulbab instantly died of extreme serious injuries. He was buried in the family's cemetery in Pakistan on August, 20, 2020.