UK pledges more aid after Beirut explosion
THE International Development Secretary has pledged to “stand by the Lebanese people” and promised another £20 million in aid following the devastating explosion in Beirut.
The blast in the city’s port on Tuesday is now known to have killed more than 150 people and destroyed large parts of the city.
The new package of support is in addition to £5 million already given by the UK Government.
Anne-Marie Trevelyan said: “Today the world is coming together to stand by the Lebanese people, and as one of the biggest donors to this crisis so far, the UK is pledging more urgent support to help all those affected by this terrible disaster.”
The extra funds come after one British aid worker said the impact of the explosion can be seen six miles from the epicentre of the blast.
British charity Saraid (Search and Rescue Assistance in Disasters) has been working in the city for several days, trying to find survivors and evaluate the structural safety of buildings hit by the blast.
One of Saraid’s volunteers, Rob
Davis, 49, described the epicentre of the explosion as “completely devastated, a huge amount of damage”, but the effects can also be seen further out of the city.
He told the PA news agency: “The area of affected property is massive.
“If I can give you some indication of the scale of the effect of the blast, my base of operations is 10km (6.2 miles) from the port, the windows in my base have been affected by the blast.
A firefighter by trade, volunteer Mr Davis added: “I’m 10km from the port - from the epicentre of this explosion - and my hotel, it’s not structurally damaged, but the fabrication of it is damaged.”
Mr Davis said there are “various levels of damage” across communities in Beirut, but Saraid workers are liaising with local agencies to check buildings and rank them as safe or unsafe, to “try and get some sense of normality back to the communities of Beirut”.
He added: “The whole community has been shocked by this devastating event.”