Over centuries, Beirut built its reputation as a cultural crossroads, a thriving port and a playground known as "the Paris of the Middle East.” Now residents come and stare at the heaps of rubble and twisted steel, contemplating all they have lost following the blast which devastated a large portion of the city on Aug. 4, leaving more than 200 dead and over 6,000 injured.

An elevated highway running alongside the port area has become a vantage point for Beirutis.

"You look around and everything is destroyed, there is nothing left," said Maria Rizk, a doctor, gazing over the flattened area.

"These are the places we used to hang out, this is a bar we used to go to, this is my friend's house, this is the port, these are the streets we know and love," she said.

"This is what makes Beirut and now it's all gone. It's beyond repair."

Beirut has suffered many wars and invasions over the years that have often laid waste to neighbourhoods, but the port blast was of a scale never seen before, with preliminary estimates suggesting around 300,000 people have been displaced by the explosions.

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