Blast leaves Beirut in a state of shock
300,000 AFFECTED Residents emerge wounded and shaken; Beirut port officials under house arrest; verdict on ex-pm’s killing postponed
BEIRUT:RESCUE workers in Beirut dug through the mangled wreckage of buildings throughout Wednesday, looking for survivors a day after an enormous explosion sent a devastating shock wave across the Lebanese capital, killing at least 135 people and injuring more than 5,000.
Officials say the death toll is likely to go up after the blast at the Beirut port’s warehouses, which stored stockpiles of ammonium nitrate, a highly explosive material.
On Wednesday, as investigators searched the wreckage at the port for clues, several port officials were placed under house arrest following orders from the government.
Some 300,000 people have been displaced or left without homes after the shock wave smashed building facades, sucked furniture out into streets and shattered windows miles inland.
Residents of Beirut - stunned and sleepless - emerged on Wednesday from the aftermath of the catastrophic explosion searching for missing relatives, and bandaging their wounds.
Buildings, shopping districts and the famed promenade have been reduced to rubble.
“Beirut is gone,” said Mohammed Saad, an out-of-town driver making his way through the mangled streets.
“We don’t deserve this,” said Riwa Baltagi, a 23-year-old who was helping friends retrieve valuables from their demolished homes.
According to a Bloomberg report, the chemical suspected of causing the blast was lying in storage for six years despite warnings from customs officials about its hazards. On Tuesday, workers welding a door started a fire that ignited the chemicals, Lebanese broadcaster LBCI said.
In another development, Lebanon’s special tribunal said it would postpone its verdict in the trial over the 2005 bombing that killed former Lebanese PM Rafik al-hariri to August 18.