EXPLOSION HORROR ...
At least 100 killed, with thousands injured amid colossal damage
Grain silos at the Beirut port and its surrounding area are seen heavily damaged after a mega-blast tore through the harbour in the heart of the Lebanese capital on Tuesday night with the force of an earthquake, killing more than 100 people and injuring over 4,000. –
BEIRUT: Rescue workers dug through rubble yesterday looking for survivors after a massive warehouse explosion sent a devastating blast wave across Beirut, killing at least 100 people and injuring nearly 4,000.
Officials said the toll was expected to rise after the Tuesday’s blast at port warehouses that stored highly explosive material.
The explosion was the most powerful ever to rip through Beirut, a city still scarred by civil war and reeling from an economic meltdown, and a surge in coronavirus infections.
President Michel Aoun said 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate, used in fertilisers and bombs, had been stored for six years at the port without safety measures.
He called it “unacceptable”. An official source familiar with the investigations blamed the incident on negligence.
Ordinary Lebanese directed anger at politicians who have overseen decades of state corruption and bad governance that plunged the nation into crisis.
“It’s like a war zone. I’m speechless,” Beirut’s mayor, Jamal Itani, told Reuters while inspecting damage he estimated ran into billions of dollars. “This is a catastrophe.”
The head of Lebanon’s Red Cross, George Kettani, said at least 100 people had been killed.
“We are still sweeping the area.” Many of those killed were port and custom employees or driving through during rush hour.
The Red Cross was coordinating with the Health Ministry to set up morgues because hospitals were overwhelmed, Kettani said.
“This is the killer blow for Beirut, we are a disaster zone. I thought it was an earthquake,” said Bilal, a man in his 60s, living in the area.
“We already have a financial crisis. Who will compensate for those who lost their loved ones.” – Reuters