Scenes of devastation in Beirut as search begins for answers over deadly blast
● At least 135 killed and thousands hurt ● International aid flights begin to arrive
Investigators have begun searching the wreckage of Beirut’s port for clues to the cause of the massive explosion that ripped across the Lebanese capital as the government ordered port officials put under house arrest.
International aid flights began to arrive as Lebanon’s leaders struggled to deal with the aftermath of Tuesday’s blast, crippled by an economic crisis and facing a public where many already blame chronic mismanagement and corruption among the ruling elite for the disaster.
The explosion at the port killed at least 135 people and wounded more than 4,000.
Hospitals were quickly overwhelmed, while one was so badly damaged in the blast it had to be evacuated, with patients being taken to a nearby field for treatment.
Residents were confronted by a scene of utter devastation yesterday morning. Smoke still rose from the port, where a towering building of silos was half destroyed, spilling out grain. Hangars around it were completely toppled. The blast created a crater about 200 metres across that filled with seawater, as if the sea had taken a bite out of the port, swallowing buildings with it.
Buildings were damaged for miles around the city, and Beirut’s governor said that hundreds of thousands might not beabletoreturntotheirhomes for two or three months.
There were no reports of British fatalities as rescue workers searched for survivors of the explosion. Government minister Nick Gibb said all embassy staff based in Beirut are accounted for, but some have suffered non-lifethreatening injuries.
Meanwhile, an official letter surfaced online showing that the head of the customs department had warned repeatedly over the years that a huge stockpile of ammonium nitrate stored in a hangar in the port was a danger and asked for a way to remove it.
Ammonium nitrate is a component of fertiliser that is potentially explosive. The 2,750-tonne cargo had been stored at the port since it was confiscated from a ship in 2013, and on Tuesday it is believed to have detonated after a fire broke out nearby. The resulting explosion hit with the force of a 3.5-magnitude earthquake, and was the biggest ever seen in Beirut.
President Michael Aoun vowed the investigation would be transparent and that those responsible will be punished.
“There are no words to describe the catastrophe that hit Beirut,” he said.
The Lebanese Cabinet ordered an unspecified number of Beirut port officials put under house arrest pending an investigation into how the ammonium nitrate came to be stored at the port for years. The government also declared a two-week state of emergency, effectively giving the military full powers.
State prosecutor Ghassan Oueidat ordered security agencies to start an immediate investigation.
Lebanon was already on the brink of collapse amid a severe economic crisis.
Many have lost their jobs and seen their savings evaporate because of a currency crisis.
Food security is also an issue, since Lebanon imports nearly all its vital goods and Beirut is its main port. .