Beirut port silos damaged in blast now at collapsing point

THE vast grain silos damaged by the 2020 Beirut port blast are at “imminent” risk of further collapse after a portion of the unstable structure toppled following a fire that lasted weeks, Lebanese authorities have warned.

A portion of the northern block of the concrete structure on the Beirut waterfront collapsed in a huge cloud of dark dust, most of which headed out to sea, yesterday afternoon.

No injuries were reported. Fermenting grain left inside the structure for more than a year ignited in the summer heat in July. Firefighters were unable to extinguish the flames and the fire has smouldered for weeks, sending an acrid smell across the city.

Emmanuel Durand, a French civil engineer who installed sensors on the damaged silos, earlier warned reporters and the Lebanese government that the fire had accelerated the rate of tilt and that a collapse was likely.

The Lebanese Red Cross had been handing out KN95 masks in the residential areas surrounding the port in advance of the collapse, while instructions on which areas should be evacuated were sent around by authorities via Whatsapp.

Ali Hamie, the Lebanese transport minister, told Reuters that more parts of the silo were at immediate risk of collapse.

The 48m structure, which has dominated Beirut’s port for more than 50 years, effectively shielded the city from even worse destruction when it withstood the explosion of ammonium nitrate in a neighbouring warehouse in August 2020.

The blast still killed more than 200 people and injured 6,000.