Kuwait Times

Lebanon sees possible ‘external interferen­ce’ in deadly port blast

Hezbollah leader suggests negligence and corruption at fault

- —Reuters

BEIRUT: Lebanon’s president said its investigat­ion into the biggest blast in Beirut’s history would examine whether it was caused by a bomb or other external interferen­ce, as residents sought to rebuild shattered homes and lives. Rescuers sifted rubble in a race to find anyone still alive after Tuesday’s port explosion that killed 154 people, injured 5,000, destroyed a swathe of the Mediterran­ean city and sent seismic shockwaves around the region.

“The cause has not been determined yet. There is a possibilit­y of external interferen­ce through a rocket or bomb or other act,” President Michel Aoun told local media. Aoun, who had previously said explosive material was stored unsafely for years at the port, said the investigat­ion would also weigh if the blast was due to negligence or an accident. Twenty people had been detained so far, he added. One source said an initial probe blamed negligence.

While the United States has said it did not rule out an attack, Israel, which has fought several wars with Lebanon, has denied any role. Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said the cause was unclear, but compared the blast to a 2005 bombing that killed former Prime Minister Rafiq Al-Hariri. Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, leader of Lebanon’s powerful Shiite group Hezbollah, denied what he said were “preconceiv­ed” comments both domestical­ly and abroad that the Iran-backed group had arms stored at the port.

He called for a fair investigat­ion and strict accountabi­lity for anyone responsibl­e without any political cover. “Even if a plane struck, or if it was an intentiona­l act, if it turns out this nitrate had been at the port for years in this way, it means part of the case is absolutely negligence and corruption,” he said. The customs director and a predecesso­r were arrested later on Friday. At

Beirut’s Mohammad Al-Amin mosque, next to Hariri’s grave, chief cleric Amin Al Kurdi told worshipper­s in a Friday sermon that Lebanese leaders bore responsibi­lity.

“Who is the criminal, who is the killer behind the Beirut explosion?” he said. “Only God can protect, not the corrupt ... The army only protects the leaders.” Security forces fired tear gas at a crowd in Beirut on Thursday, as anger boiled over at the ruling elite, who have presided over an economic collapse. The small crowd, some hurling stones, marked a return to the kind of protests that had become a feature of life as Lebanese watched their savings evaporate and currency disintegra­te, while government decision-making floundered.

‘Where is the state?’ “There is no way we can rebuild this house. Where is the state?” said Tony Abdou, an unemployed 60-year-old. His family home is in Gemmayze, a district a few hundred meters from the warehouses where 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate were stored for years near a densely populated area. A security source and local media previously said the fire that caused the blast was ignited by welding work.

Volunteers swept up debris from the streets of Beirut, which still bears scars from a 1975-1990 civil war. “Do we actually have a government here?” said taxi driver Nassim Abiaad, 66, whose cab was crushed by wreckage as he was about to get in. “There is no way to make money anymore.” For many, the explosion was symptomati­c of years of neglect and corruption. “The problem is this government and all government­s before it,” said Dr Mohammed Kalifa, 31.

Officials have said the blast, whose impact was recorded hundreds of miles away, might have caused losses amounting to $15 billion. That is a bill Lebanon cannot pay after already defaulting on a mountain of debt - exceeding 150% of economic output - and with talks stalled on a lifeline from the Internatio­nal Monetary Fund. Hospitals, many heavily damaged as shockwaves ripped out windows and ceilings, have been overwhelme­d. “I lived through part of the civil war. I saw people being shot in front of me. But never has there been such a horror,” said Dr. Assem Al Hajj at Beirut’s Clemenceau hospital, which he said had treated 400 victims.

Hunting the missing

As exhausted rescuers combed wreckage to find any survivors, grieving families camped outside the port where their loved ones were last seen. Some victims were hurled into the sea because of the explosive force. “We would like to go inside the port to look for my son but we can’t get permission,” said Elias Marouni, describing his son George, a 30-year-old army officer.

One weeping mother called a prime-time TV program to plead with authoritie­s to find her son, Joe. He was found hours later: dead. Dozens are still unaccounte­d for. In Beirut’s Karantina district, a Polish rescue team took a break near a once three-storey building that was completely flattened. One woman and her two teenage daughters were killed, a neighbor said. Charbel Abreeni, who trained port employees, showed Reuters pictures on his phone of killed colleagues. He was sitting in a church where the head of a Virgin Mary statue was blown off.

 ?? —AFP ?? BEIRUT: A handout picture obtained from Qatar’s Internal Security Force shows members of its search and rescue unit assisting their Lebanese counterpar­ts in seeking survivors on the site of a massive blast at the Beirut port.
—AFP BEIRUT: A handout picture obtained from Qatar’s Internal Security Force shows members of its search and rescue unit assisting their Lebanese counterpar­ts in seeking survivors on the site of a massive blast at the Beirut port.
 ??  ?? Rescuers hunt for more survivors
Rescuers hunt for more survivors

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