Up to 300,000 left homeless after catastrophic blast that has devastated city
The death toll from the explosion that ripped through Beirut climbed to at more than 100 on Wednesday, while about 4,000 people were wounded in the huge blast at the city’s port.
Rescue workers combed through rubble to search for missing people after the blast which has dealt a devastating blow to a country already reeling from its worst economic crisis in decades.
Beirut’s governor Marwan Abboud said up to 300,000 people had lost their homes and the authorities were working to provide them with food, water and shelter.
Helicopters circled over catastrophic scenes with homes and offices miles from the port shattered. Two fires were still burning at the scene of the explosion, which the authorities said took place at a warehouse where 2,700 tonnes of ammonium nitrate had been impounded.
An Africa-bound ship carrying 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate was seized at the Beirut port in late 2013, according to legal reports at the time. The law firm prosecuting the case said the cargo had been unloaded into a warehouse.
Hassan Diab, Lebanon’s prime minister, who described the explosion as a “catastrophe”, said details about the warehouse would be made public in due course.❑
