Beirut port fire: Huge fire at Beirut port weeks after deadly blast
Опубликованно 11.09.2020 17:50
Sky News journalist Larissa Aoun shared footage of black smoke billowing into the air from the downtown area.
The fire sparked alarm among residents still reeling from the deadly dockside explosion that caught people unawares after 2,750 tonnes of the ammonium nitrate ignited.
???? ???? ?? ???? #????? pic.twitter.com/ViWtmyyKdz— Larissa Aoun (@LarissaAounSky) September 10, 2020
Another fire !!! we really can’t take this anymore #Beirut #Lebanon pic.twitter.com/9eBCm5yO4j— Larissa Aoun (@LarissaAounSky) September 10, 2020
It’s unclear what caused the blaze.
Thick black columns of smoke rose into the sky, as the army said it had engulfed a warehouse storing engine oil and vehicle tyres
People must be thinking : should I run, should I hide , open windows , close windows, pack a bag , leave the area .. A new fire in the port area #Beirut #Lebanon pic.twitter.com/eZ9MVvtE0m— Larissa Aoun (@LarissaAounSky) September 10, 2020
Insane fire at the port, causing a panic all across #Beirut. We just can’t catch a break. pic.twitter.com/PtdHehPlz0— Aya Majzoub (@Aya_Majzoub) September 10, 2020
Port of #Beirut now. Firefighters are struggling to control the fire. Look at the truck, it has photos of 10 of their colleagues who passed away a month ago at that same location. pic.twitter.com/4pOyaQU3DH— Imad Bazzi (@TrellaLB) September 10, 2020
CITY REELING FROM DISASTER
It comes after a massive mushroom cloud explosion rocked Lebanon’s capital city on August 5.
According to the country’s health ministry, at least 190 people were killed in Lebanon’s worst peacetime disaster, 6000 were wounded with around 20 still missing.
One Australian boy was among those killed by the blast, which tore down buildings, flattened houses, ripped balconies from apartments, tossed cars from the nearby motorway, and sent a huge plume of smoke billowing across the city.
Shocked Beirut City Governor Marwan Aboud said his city was plunged into a “national disaster akin to Hiroshima’’.
Lebanese media carried images of people trapped under rubble, some bloodied, after the explosion.
“All the buildings around here have collapsed. I’m walking through glass and debris everywhere, in the dark,” one witness told AFP.
In the aftermath, Lebanon’s entire government resigned.
Lebanese Prime Minister Hassan Diab slammed Lebanon’s ruling elite for allowing “an apparatus of corruption bigger than the state”, and compared the explosion to an “earthquake that rocked the country”.
“We have fought valiantly and with dignity,” he said, referring to his cabinet.
“Between us and change is big powerful barrier.
“We have decided to stand with the people.”
PROBE TO TAKE PLACE
Twenty-five suspects are in custody over the explosion that killed more than 190 people, wounded thousands, and ravaged homes and business across large parts of the capital.
Hundreds of tonnes of ammonium nitrate had been stored unsafely in a port warehouse for at least six years, it emerged after the explosion.
The disclosure sparked widespread outrage over alleged official negligence that many said was to blame for the blast.
Some 2,750 tonnes of the ammonium nitrate were initially stored at the port, but experts believe the quantity that ignited was substantially less than that.
After the explosion, State Security said it had warned the authorities of the danger of the unstable chemicals stored in the port’s warehouse 12, and signalled that some of it had been stolen due to a hole in a wall.
In the week of the blast, workers had begun repairs on the decrepit warehouse. Security sources have suggested the welding work could have started a fire that triggered the blast, but some observers have rejected this as an attempt to shift the blame for high-level failings.
Those arrested so far include top port and customs officials, as well as Syrian workers who allegedly carried out the welding hours before the explosion.
Lebanon has rejected an international investigation into the country’s worst peace-time disaster, but its probe is being aided by foreign experts, including from the FBI and France.
More to come.
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