DEATHS IN BEIRUT BLASTS RISE TO 154

AFTERMATH

capital city on Tuesday.

Volunteers help clean the streets of Beirut, Lebanon on Aug. 7, 2020 in the aftermath of the massive explosion that rocked the

BEIRUT: The death toll in the huge explosions that rocked Port of Beirut on Tuesday has reached 154, Lebanese Health Minister Hamad Hassan announced on Friday.

Hassan said 20 percent of the 5,000 injuries need hospitalization while serious cases have reached 120 as the shattered glasses caused severe injuries that required surgeries, the National News Agency reported.

The two huge explosions at the port killed at least 154 people and injured about 5,000 others, while causing massive damages in the city.

In related news, Hezbollah’s leader Hasan Nasrallah has urged critics not to hold the Shiite militia responsible for the massive blast at Beirut’s port, as many Lebanese point to Hezbollah as a source of problems that helped bring about the tragedy.

Nasrallah responded to growing calls that Hezbollah be held at least partly accountable.

The group, which has a powerful place in Lebanon’s government, is widely believed to use the port facility for its smuggling operations and is under scrutiny more generally because it operates a parallel state outside official structures, which is seen as contributing to the weakness of institutions in running and regulating the country.

A vast store of explosive material sat in Beirut for years despite warnings Hezbollah is strong enough to counter challenges from any faction, Nasrallah cautioned in an address televised live by the movement’s Al-Manar TV station.

“If you want to start a battle against the resistance over this incident, you will get no results,” Nasrallah said, referring to Hezbollah.

“The resistance, with its strength and patriotism, is greater and bigger and stronger than to be hit by those liars who want to push for and provoke civil war,” he added. “They will fail, and they will always fail.”

His comments came amid mounting fury among ordinary Lebanese at the negligence, corruption and mismanagement of successive Lebanese governments — which have included Hezbollah — that allowed a huge stash of flammable ammonium nitrate to sit unattended at Beirut’s port for more than six years.

A fire that broke out ignited the stockpile, triggering the explosions.