Grandmother Played ‘Auld Lang Syne’ On Piano Among Beirut Explosion Debris

Aug 07, 2020

On Tuesday, August 4th, 2020, a massive explosion in Beirut, Lebanon killed at least 145 people and destroyed countless buildings, leaving thousands wounded, and hundreds of thousands of residents homeless. Despite what has become a tragedy for the capital city, one grandmother seemed to find solace in music. In a video posted to social media on Wednesday, 79-year-old May Abboud Melki played piano at her house in Beirut among the wreckage from Tuesday’s explosion.

May-Lee Melki, May Abboud Melki granddaughter, posted the video on her Facebook page on Wednesday after her mother sent it to her. The post quickly spread far and wide across the internet, accumulating 19 thousand likes and more than a thousand sympathetic comments from viewers around the world.

In the video, May Abboud Melki plays the piano in her living room while surrounded by glass, debris, and broken furniture. The 79-year-old plays the traditional folk song Auld Lang Syne for around a minute as the camera surveys the wreckage.

Luckily, May Abboud Melki and her husband were not at home during Tuesday’s blast, and neither she nor her husband were injured, according to reports from CNN. The house that they had lived in for over 60 years was devastated by the blast, as viewers will see in the video.

"It survived the entire civil war... It witnessed bullets go through it," May-Lee Melki told CNN on Wednesday. "They have rebuilt themselves over and over again."

But as CNN reports, their longtime home is now in shambles despite the fact that it was over a mile from Beirut’s port, the site of the explosion. May-Lee Melki told the news outlet that as soon as her grandmother returned home, she went straight to the piano, which was a wedding gift from her father.

In the clip, which was taken shortly thereafter, the 79-year-old plays while dozens of volunteers begin to help clean up the wreckage. CNN reports that she begins by playing 'Auld Lang Syne', but then switches to playing Arabic hymns, which spurs the volunteers to gather around and begin worshipping.

"To see her lean into her faith, lean into God was something that was a strong message to her community and our family immediately," her granddaughter told the outlet.

While the explosion is still under investigation and the exact cause is undetermined, the blast has been linked to an accidental fire and a port warehouse, which held 2,750 of ammonium nitrate, according to The New York Times.

The initial blast was followed by a much larger explosion that was felt more than 100 miles away, destroying large portions of the city, which is home to millions of people. Following Tuesday’s blast, multiple international aid organizations and countries have volunteered to provide support.

We at apost.com send our prayers to Beiruit.