UPDATE
Furious Lebanese vow new protests over deadly mega-blast

Issued on: 09/08/2020 -

"Prepare the gallows because our anger doesn't end in one day," warned one message circulating on social media in response to Tuesday's earthquake-strength blast of a huge pile of industrial chemicals - AFP

Beirut (AFP)

Lebanese protesters enraged by official negligence blamed for Beirut's enormous and deadly explosion vowed Sunday to rally again after a night of street clashes in which they stormed several ministries.

"Prepare the gallows because our anger doesn't end in one day," warned one message circulating on social media in response to Tuesday's earthquake-strength blast of a huge pile of industrial chemicals.

The calls for renewed protests came as French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris was to oversee a UN-backed virtual donors conference to raise aid for Lebanon, a country already mired in a painful economic crisis.


In Beirut, the fury on the streets has further shaken the embattled government of Prime Minister Hassan Diab, which saw its first cabinet resignation when the information minister, Manal Abdel Samad, quit Sunday.

"After the enormous Beirut catastrophe, I announce my resignation from government," she said, apologising to citizens for having failed them.

The revelation that Lebanese state officials had long tolerated a ticking time-bomb in the heart of the capital has served as shocking proof to many Lebanese of the rot at the core of the state apparatus.

The death toll from the explosion of a long-neglected pile of ammonium nitrate stood at 158 people, with 60 still reported missing, and a staggering 6,000 wounded, many by flying glass as the shockwave tore through the city.

The blast, whose mushroom cloud reminded many of an atomic bomb, left a 43-metre (141 foot) deep crater at Beirut's port, said a security official citing French experts working in the disaster area.

The mood was one of grief and fury in Beirut, a day after many of the dead were laid to rest and when thousands demonstrated in the biggest anti-government rally the country has seen in months.

- Teargas, rubber bullets -

The country's worst peace-time disaster has reignited a protest movement against the reviled ruling elite that first flared last October but had then faded amid economic hardship and the coronavirus pandemic.

As tensions have again escalated, the army Saturday used teargas and rubber bullets to clear hundreds of protesters from the central Martyr's Square, once more the epicentre of Lebanon's protest movement.

The street violence left 65 people injured, according to the Red Cross, with footage circulating online showing some demonstrators having sustained severe injuries.

In a new tactic, demonstrators temporarily occupied the foreign ministry building before being forced out by the army three hours later.

Protesters, some brandishing nooses, also stormed the economy and energy ministries and the Association of Banks, widely hated for cash shortages and asset freezes, before they were pushed back out by soldiers.

Rescuers meanwhile kept digging through the rubble of toppled buildings as hopes slowly faded of finding more survivors from the colossal blast that shook the country and was felt as far away as Cyprus.

The explosion was recorded by the American Institute of Geophysics as equivalent in power to a magnitude 3.3 earthquake.

It was triggered by a fire in a port warehouse, where a huge shipment of hazardous ammonium nitrate, a chemical that can be used as a fertiliser or as an explosive, had languished for years, according to authorities.

- 'Crime against humanity' -

Embattled Prime Minister Diab said Saturday he would propose early elections to break the impasse that is plunging Lebanon ever deeper into political and economic crisis.

"We can't exit the country's structural crisis without holding early parliamentary elections," Diab said in a televised address, promising a draft bill Monday.

At least six lawmakers have also quit since the August 4 explosion.

The head of Lebanon's Maronite church patriarch Beshara Rai joined the chorus of people pressing Diab's entire cabinet to step down over a blast he said could be "described as a crime against humanity".

The protesters demand the wholesale removal of Lebanon's ruling class, which they see living in luxury while millions endure job losses, deepening poverty, power blackouts and garbage mountains piling up in the streets.

Working with the mostly youthful protesters are a group of retired army leaders whose state pensions have been decimated by the collapse of the Lebanese pound.

Politics in multi-confessional Lebanon is dominated by former warlords from the 1975-1990 civil war who years ago exchanged their military fatigues for suits, or by their offspring and nephews.

While there Sunni Muslim, Christian and myriad other groups, the most powerful is the Shiite Hezbollah militia and political movement, which dwarfs the state in manpower and military strength.

The protesters charge that Lebanon's elite is fighting over the spoils of government, beholden to their personal and sectarian interests rather than the good of the nation.

© 2020 AFP

Lebanese protesters storm ministry buildings as anger over Beirut explosion grows
Issued on: 08/08/2020 -

Demonstrators take part in a protest, following Tuesday's blast, in Beirut, Lebanon August 8, 2020. © REUTERS/Issam Abdallah

Text by:FRANCE 24Follow

Lebanese protesters forced their way into government ministries in Beirut and trashed the offices of the Association of Banks in Lebanon on Saturday as shots rang out in increasingly angry demonstrations over this week's devastating explosion.

More than 110 people were wounded during demonstrations in central Beirut on Saturday against this week's huge explosion and 32 people were taken to hospital, Lebanese Red Cross officials told local media.

Police confirmed shots and rubber bullets were fired during the clashes. It was not immediately clear who fired the shots. Riot police shot dozens of teargas canisters at protesters, who hit back with firecrackers and stones.

With security forces focused on a large gathering at the Martyrs' Square protest hub, a group led by retired army officers snuck into Lebanon's foreign ministry and declared the building a "headquarters of the revolution".

The stunt, which marked a new development in the strategy of a protest camp whose October 17 uprising had lost steam lately, was facilitated by the damage the port-blast shockwave had inflicted on the building.

But the takeover lasted barely three hours.



Beirut demonstrators showed 'level of rage' not yet seen in 10 months of protests

Large army reinforcements using rubber bullets and tear gas drove out the roughly 200 protesters, who only had time to chant celebratory slogans against the government and burn a portrait of President Michel Aoun.

At one point, protesters had stormed or taken over four key official buildings.

"We are officially at war with our government," said activist Hayat Nazer, as tear gas filled the air in downtown Beirut.

"This is war."

'Lebanon is ours'

Separate groups of protesters also stormed the economy ministry, the Association of Banks in Lebanon and the energy ministry before being forced out by the army shortly afterwards.

The latter is the focus of particular anger from the population, which has in recent months been subjected to worse-than-ever power cuts due to the de facto bankruptcy of the state.

"They ruled Lebanon for 30 years, now Lebanon is ours," said one protester speaking on live Lebanese television broadcasts.

"We entered the energy ministry and we are here to stay."

The Association of Banks in Lebanon, another obvious target for protesters who have routinely nicknamed their rulers "the government of banks", was ransacked, an AFP reporter said.

By 10:30 pm local time. however, protesters had been dispersed and security forces deployed across the city, where the broken glass and rubble from Tuesday's disaster mixed with the smoking remains of a night of rage.

The rallies claimed a human toll too, with one policeman falling to his death following an "assault" by "rioters", the police said. A policeman at the scene said the officer died when he fell into an elevator shaft in a nearby building after being chased by protesters.

Dozens of people wounded during the violence also needed treatment in hospitals already bursting with the injured from Tuesday's blast and coronavirus patients.

"We are staying here. We call on the Lebanese people to occupy all the ministries," one demonstrator said on a megaphone, as new protests erupted against the political leadership blamed for a massive explosion that killed more than 150 people in the capital this week.

Possible early elections

Speaking at a press conference on Saturday evening, Lebanon's Prime Minister Hassan Diab said he would request early parliamentary elections to defuse an escalating political crisis following the catastrophic explosion at the port of Beirut.

"We cannot get out of this crisis without early parliamentary elections," he said, reading a statement. He added he was not to blame for the country's deep economic and political woes.



Lebanese Prime Minister Hassan says he will call for early elections following the blast

The US Embassy in Beirut said the US government supported the demonstrators' right to peaceful protest and urged all involved to refrain from violence.

The embassy also said in a tweet that the Lebanese people "deserved leaders who listen to them and change course to respond to popular demands for transparency and accountability".

2/2 We support them in their right to peaceful protest, and encourage all involved to refrain from violence.— U.S. Embassy Beirut (@usembassybeirut) August 8, 2020

Explosion felt in neighbouring countries

A fire at Beirut port on Tuesday ignited a stock of ammonium nitrate and triggered an explosion that was felt in neighbouring countries and destroyed entire sections of the city.

The blast killed more than 150 people and injured 5,000 while leaving more than a quarter of a million people without homes. Spectacular videos of the disaster show a mushroom-shaped shockwave that swept from the port through the city.

According to the health ministry, more than 60 people are still missing.

"After three days of cleaning, removing rubble and licking our wounds ... it is time to let our anger explode and punish them," said Fares Halabi, a 28-year-old activist.

Thousands of people poured into Beirut’s main square, where they set up symbolic nooses to hang politicians whose corruption and negligence they blame for Tuesday's explosion at the Port of Beirut.

The lack of political change combined with a stinging economic crisis and the coronavirus pandemic all but snuffed out the revolutionary movement – until this week.it


Anti-government protests are continuing in Beirut

"Today is the first demonstration since the explosion, an explosion in which any one of us could have died," said Hayat Nazer, an activist who has contributed to solidarity initiatives for blast victims.

"This is the biggest warning for everyone now that we don't have anything to lose anymore. Everyone should be in the streets today, everyone," she told AFP.
>> ‘Beirut is destroyed, my heart is broken’: Locals in despair over Lebanon blast

International aid

Two days after a landmark visit by French President Emmanuel Macron, diplomatic activity was intensifying to organise international support for the disaster-hit country ahead of a Sunday aid conference to be co-hosted by Macron and the United Nations. The Arab League has also pledged support.

Three senior diplomats were in Beirut Saturday in a show of solidarity with the disaster-hit city, where 300,000 people were made temporarily homeless by the port explosion.

The first to meet top officials was Arab League chief Ahmed Aboul Gheit. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu was also expected as was the president of the European Council, Charles Michel.


'Major protests' expected in Beirut Saturday amid residents' anger over port-area explosion

The president and prime minister of Lebanon have promised a government investigation but, more than a mere case of negligence, many Lebanese see the blast as a direct result of high-level corruption. Few Lebanese trust that the leadership would incriminate its own in an investigation chaired by some of the country's top officials.

Aoun, however, has rejected calls for an international independent investigation into the blast.

A total of 21 people have been detained so far, including Badri Daher, director-general of Lebanon's customs authority.

>> The strange history of the chemical cargo that caused the Beirut blast

'Wake-up call'

Lebanon defaulted on its debt earlier this year and the current leadership has so far consistently failed to address the economic emergency and agree on an international rescue package despite intense Western pressure.

Analyst Nasser Yassin, of the Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International Affairs, said Lebanon's leaders were clearly seeking to take advantage of the situation.

"The fear is that the authorities will benefit from this great disaster and from the international and Arab attention they are getting," he said.

Activist Hayat Nazer said the current crisis should not turn into a chance for the political elite to get a new lease of life but instead give fresh impetus to a drive for change.


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"I think it's the last wake-up call for people," she said.

"We need to save each other, we need to clean our country, to rebuild it, and to completely disregard that we have politicians," Nazer said.

"It's not just about protesting in the streets. We can make a change on a daily basis, the revolution is part of our lives, we can apply it every day."

(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP and Reuters)

Analysis: How Judge Bitar’s probe shook Lebanon leaders

Experts say judge leading investigation into last year’s explosion at Beirut’s port rattled the country simply by challenging systemic impunity.

Supporters of Lebanese groups Hezbollah and Amal take part in a protest against Tarek Bitar, the lead judge of the port blast investigation 

[File: Mohamed Azakir/Reuters]

SOURCE: AL JAZEERA
By Kareem Chehayeb
16 Oct 2021

Beirut, Lebanon – When the Lebanese government announced more than a year ago that the probe into the devastating explosion in Beirut’s port would be conducted domestically, few expected that senior officials would be charged.

But even fewer expected that the lead investigator, Judge Tarek Bitar, could rattle the country’s entrenched leadership, which for decades has reigned with impunity and routinely quashed legal investigations that may hold it accountable.

More than 200 people were killed and some 6,500 wounded when hundreds of tonnes of highly explosive ammonium nitrate fertiliser stored in the port for years ignited on August 4, 2020. The explosion wrecked large parts of Beirut and continues to haunt Lebanon, as the country struggles with an economic meltdown that plunged three-quarters of its population into poverty. No officials have been convicted yet.

Bitar’s persistence to pursue senior political and security officials, despite their attempts to delegitimise and remove him, has put the country on notice.

“Judge Bitar is giving the Lebanese hope in the domestic judiciary after many people have totally given up on justice and accountability locally,” Aya Majzoub, Human Rights Watch Lebanon researcher, told Al Jazeera. “He is single-handedly facing off with the entire political establishment that is implicated in the Beirut blast.”

On Thursday, a protest in Beirut by Hezbollah and Amal supporters calling for Bitar’s removal turned into a bloodbath when unidentified snipers fired at the crowd from rooftops, triggering a gun battle that last for more than four hours. Seven civilians and combatants died.

Families of the explosion victims, activists and human rights organisations continue to back Bitar. However, several political and religious leaders from across the country’s sectarian spectrum continue to call for his removal and accuse him of bias, accusations dismissed by legal experts and rights groups.

Bitar was appointed to lead the investigation in February following the dismissal of his predecessor, Judge Fadi Sawan, who had shockingly charged former ministers Ali Hasan Khalil, Ghazi Zeiter, Youssef Finianos, and Lebanon’s then-caretaker Prime Minister Hassan Diab with criminal negligence.

Over the past seven months, Bitar has continued to pursue the same individuals and also charged former minister Nohad Machnouk. He has also repeatedly requested to summon two senior security officials, General Security chief Major-General Abbas Ibrahim and State Security head Major-General Tony Saliba – but the Ministry of Interior and Higher Defence Council would reject the requests.

The charged politicians have declined to show up to the interrogations. They have also continuously tried to remove the judge by filing legal complaints, which have sometimes temporarily suspended the investigation. Though the judiciary has so far dismissed these complaints, legal experts say this has been a tactic to stall the investigation, while major political parties have now also begun calling for Bitar’s removal.

The most vociferous has been Hezbollah, even though Bitar has not charged anyone from the party. Just three days before Thursday’s clashes, Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah accused the judge of politically targeting officials and called for an “honest and transparent judge”. Last month, a senior Hezbollah security official reportedly threatened Judge Bitar in his office.

“It’s clear that Bitar has hit too close to home, but we don’t know why Hezbollah, in particular, is leading this campaign against him,” Majzoub said. “They keep saying they’re singled out, but none of the officials Bitar has called for investigation are Hezbollah officials.”

Lebanon’s troubled history is littered with conflict, including a vicious 15-year civil war that ended in 1990, followed by decades of assassinations and sporadic armed clashes. But the perpetrators of even the gravest crimes were never held to account. Many say this is an extension of rampant corruption in Lebanon, where the judiciary is not independent of the government.

Now, political leaders have accused Bitar and the judiciary of being politicised.

Families and experts told Al Jazeera that Bitar set a new precedent in the port explosion investigation and shocked Lebanon’s leadership.

Bachar El-Halabi, a political analyst, said Bitar “decided to go as far as possible”.

“Sawan’s removal also shocked [the public] and garnered support in the public sphere which transcended sectarian fault lines,” El-Halabi noted. “It’s not just about ending the impunity that continues to reign supreme in Lebanon, but a fear of any kind of repercussion of change that could come through the judiciary.”

Two years ago, mass nationwide protests demanded accountability for rampant corruption and financial mismanagement, as well as an end to decades of rule at the hands of the country’s sectarian leadership. A common call among protesters at the time was an independent judiciary to investigate corrupt politicians and business people.

“Bitar has also started a wider discussion around the country around [legal] immunities, and the really corrupt political and legal system that essentially shields these high-level officials from accountability,” Majzoub said.

“He brought this issue to the forefront of public debate in Lebanon, and put a lot of pressure to reform this system designed by the powerful to protect the powerful.”

KEEP READING

Beirut blast probe suspended again as judge issues arrest warrant

Court allows Judge Bitar to resume Beirut blast investigation

Mother continues daughter’s art after losing her to Beirut blast

How an investigation into Beirut's port explosion is rattling Lebanon's elite, stirring memories of civil war

Analysis by Tamara Qiblawi, CNN
Sat October 16, 2021

(CNN)For many in Lebanon, Thursday's scenes from central Beirut brought a sense of deja vu.

Snipers shot people from rooftops. Masked gunmen fired back with rocket-propelled grenades and B7 rockets. Terrified schoolchildren took cover in corridors. And to top it all off, the violence was all playing out along the capital's former "Green Line," a major battle front that divided Beirut's Christian east from the predominantly Muslim west during the 15-year civil war that ended in 1990.

It was enough to send shivers down the spine of a people still reeling from collective traumas both fresh -- such as last summer's Beirut port blast -- and old. The wounds of the civil war continue to fester, and to watch smoke billowing from buildings covered in pockmarks from battles long past was almost too much for ordinary people to bear.
Yet for all the harrowingly familiar optics of Thursday's fighting, the political environment is new. The violence did not pit Muslim against Christian. Nor are the motivations sectarian. Instead, the violence has emerged from a fault-line that is divorced from those terrible realities.

Men help evacuate an elderly woman after gunfire erupted, in Beirut, Lebanon October 14, 2021.

The probe into the port explosion that killed more than 200 people is at the heart of Thursday's tumult. The investigation -- the biggest ever legal challenge to Lebanon's ruling elite, who are also a holdover from the civil war -- is widely seen as a potential milestone, a tool through which the country can begin to shed its blood-drenched past.
Neither the masked gunmen who emerged from a Hezbollah-organized protest against the port probe, nor the unknown snipers who appeared to be posturing as defenders of the investigation, have a vested interest in Lebanon moving forward or finding answers from the devastation of August 2020. Hezbollah and its ally Amal have accused the Christian right-wing party and former militia, the Lebanese Forces (LF), of being behind the sniping -- an allegation the LF has rejected.

Thursday's fighters appear keen to keep the tiny Mediterranean country stuck in the past, just when the population has overwhelmingly voiced support for a better future. The judge leading the investigation into the probe, Tarek Bitar, has emerged as a champion of those people. Hezbollah, on the other hand, has positioned itself as Bitar's most vociferous opponent.

People of all religious stripes were casualties of the August 2020 explosion. Across Lebanon's religious spectrum, people want justice. In that same vein, Hezbollah — which has not been prosecuted in the probe so far — has led a political offensive on behalf of a multi-religious elite.

Bitar has sought to question top officials across the board, and has recently issued arrest warrants against three former ministers — a Sunni Muslim, a Shia Muslim and a Maronite Christian.

The divisions therefore do not play out along Lebanon's age-old confessional lines. Instead some say observers ought to be looking at the implications of the probe itself. The investigation into the Beirut blast has rattled the political elite in a way that the blast itself, one of the largest non-nuclear explosions in history, could not.

The ruling class appears to be shaking in its boots, after having unsuccessfully petitioned to remove Bitar from his position. This is the same elite that survived a civil war, thanks to an amnesty law that marked the end of the conflict, and was largely unfazed by the October 2019 nationwide popular uprising and the devastating economic catastrophe that followed.

The ramifications of the probe could extend beyond Lebanon and to the Arab world at large. This is a region well-known for brazenly undermining its judiciary, even as the appetite for accountability among an increasingly frustrated Arab youth continues to grow.

If, against all odds, Bitar can see his investigation through, then he could be setting a precedent for the entire region. Arab leaders should take note.


A man runs for cover as gunfire breaks out at a protest in Beirut, Lebanon, on Thursday, October 14.

UPDATE

Lebanon's battered economy dealt fresh blow after port blast hits 'Achilles heel'

Suleiman Al-Khalidi,
Reuters•August 7, 2020



FILE PHOTO: Aftermath of Tuesday's blast in Beirut's port area, LebanonMore

By Suleiman Al-Khalidi

AMMAN (Reuters) - Lebanon's economy, already sinking before the explosion that knocked out its main port, could now shrink by double the rate previously forecast for this year, making it even harder to secure the financing the country needs to get back on its feet.

Economists say Tuesday's blast, which also damaged large parts of commercial Beirut, could lead to a GDP contraction of around 20-25% this year - far beyond the IMF's recent forecast for a 12% decline due to a deepening economic and political crisis.

Lebanese officials have estimated losses due to the blast, which killed 150 people, left thousands injured and rendered tens of thousands homeless, could run into billions of dollars.

A financial crisis had already led Lebanon to enter negotiations with the International Monetary Fund in May this year after it defaulted on its foreign currency debt, but those talks were put on hold in the absence of reforms.

Analysts say the blast highlights negligence in Lebanon's governance and puts more pressure on the government to speed up reforms in order to access aid to rebuild the economy.

While there has been an outpouring of sympathy for the country this week, there has been a notable absence of aid commitments so far, beyond urgent humanitarian aid.

"If reforms are not carried out, Lebanon will continue to sink," French President Emmanuel Macron said on Thursday as he toured the devastation in Beirut port.

Gulf states, which once helped Lebanon, meanwhile have baulked at bailing out a country where Iran-backed Hezbollah is powerful.

"It’s highly unlikely that Lebanon will be able to unlock the financing that it needs to overcome its fundamental economic problems. Some partners may be reluctant to provide support given the influential role of Iran-backed Hezbollah in the Lebanese government," said Jason Tuvey, senior emerging markets economist Capital Economics.

Lebanon's financial crisis came to a head last October as capital inflows slowed down and protests erupted over corruption and bad governance, with a hard currency liquidity crunch leading banks to impose tight curbs on cash withdrawals and transfers abroad.

The blast has put renewed pressure on the Lebanese pound, which was trading at around 8,300 per dollar on the black market after the explosion, against a level of 8,000 beforehand, dealers say.

Economists predict more erosion in the purchasing power of the pound, which has lost nearly 80% of its value since October with skyrocketing inflation topping 56%, accentuating social tensions.

The most urgent reforms that need to be implemented to restart talks with the IMF include tackling a runaway budget, mounting debt and endemic corruption, economists say.

"We think the explosion could delay the reform process as the government tries to deflect blame, eating up the political capital necessary for difficult but urgently needed reforms," said Patrick Curran, senior economist at Tellimer, a UK based research firm.

Businessmen and economists say the port - one of the biggest in the eastern Mediterranean and where over 40% of transshipments went to Syria and the Middle East region - has already lost revenues and business since the blast to other rival ports as shipping lines divert transit cargo.

"The port turned out to be (Lebanon's) weakness," said Jawad Anani, a regional economic consultant and former Jordanian minister. "There was so much dependence on it, so when it was demolished it turned out to be their Achilles heel."

David Sabella, who opened an Italian restaurant and bar, ‘Spicy No7', 18 months ago in Gemmayze close to the port area, saw them both destroyed by the blast.

"The government should have some mercy on us. I have nothing now," he said.

Rising political tensions since the explosion will only make things worse and complicate efforts to speed reforms, pushing the country into uncharted territory.

"It's a bleak outlook with infighting among a political class that lacks consensus on a way out and is unwilling to swallow the bitter pill," said Kamal Hamdan, director of Beirut-based Consultation and Research Institute (CRI).

(Reporting by Suleiman Al-Khalidi Additional reporting by Tom Arnold; Editing by Susan Fenton)

The Beirut explosion was six years in the making and hit a country on its knees

Alexander Smith and Matthew Bodner and Charlene Gubash and Mustafa Kassem,
NBC News•August 6, 2020

The explosion that gouged a crater in Beirut's portside and sent a devastating shockwave through the city would have been a catastrophe for any country.

But it was especially cruel timing for Lebanon — where it killed at least 135 people, injuring more than 4,000 and making another 250,000 homeless. It came right when the country is already buckling under a stack of economic, political and healthcare crises.

The city is no stranger to conflict. On social media people shared photos of the red mushroom cloud hanging over the city following Tuesday's blast, alongside eerily similar images from the country's civil war 1975-1990 and the 2006 conflict between Hezbollah and Israel.

But all the early evidence suggests it was not an attack — despite the unsubstantiated comments by President Donald Trump and numerous conspiracy theorists online. Rather it appears to be a disaster caused or at least enabled by the very forces of negligence and perhaps even corruption that have been responsible for bringing the country to its knees.

Image: Smoke rises after an explosion in Beirut (Social media via Reuters)


The explosion was triggered when a warehouse fire ignited 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate, a chemical used in fertilizer and bombs, according to Lebanese Prime Minister Hassan Diab.

He said the stockpile had been stored at the port for six years without any "preventive measures" to protect it. Other officials said they have tried to sound the alarm about this deadly chemical being quietly stored in the heart of a city of more than 2 million people.

The head of Beirut port and the head of customs both said Wednesday that several letters were sent to the judiciary asking for the dangerous material be removed, but no action was taken.

"We requested that it be re-exported but that did not happen," Badri Daher, director general of Lebanese Customs, told broadcaster LBCI. "We leave it to the experts and those concerned to determine why.

NBC News attempted to contact Albert Serhan, Lebanon's former justice minister until, to ask him about the allegatins but did not get a response.
‘The ship couldn’t take it’

The ammonium nitrate arrived in fall 2013 on a Russian-owned cargo ship, the Rhosus, the ship's then-captain, Boris Prokoshev, told NBC News. It was en route from the Georgian Black Sea port of Batumi to Mozambique where it was to be used as fertilizer, he said.

It stopped off in Beirut but was impounded for safety reasons because it was overloaded and listing, Prokoshev said.

"The ship couldn't take it," he said.

The ship's Russian owner, Igor Grechushkin, abandoned the ship, refusing to pay docking fees, fines, and even salaries and food for the crew, according to the captain and Natalia Sokolova, a representative for the Seafarers Union of Russia, which represented the crew during its dispute with the owner at the time.

NBC News tried but was not able to reach Grechushkin for comment.

Image: The cargo ship Rhosus (Hasenpusch/dpa via AP)

Authorities in Beirut kept the crew aboard for 11 months to tend to the cargo, according to the captain, who said they felt "trapped" on board, and the labor union representative Sokolova.

"The Beirut port authority would not give them permission to abandon a ship carrying this type of cargo," Sokolova said. "In the end, a court seized the vessel to sell it as a means to pay off the ship owner's debts, and a port agent found locals to unload the cargo and the crew went home."

Beirut Governor Marwan Abboud backed up this account, telling the country's LBCI television station that the chemical was kept in the port under "judicial order" and that "there was nobody who took the responsibility to make a decision to remove it."
'Incomprehensible'

Various Lebanese leaders have promised to bring those responsible to justice.

The presidency tweeted that anyone who "managed the affairs" of the chemical, guarded it or "examined its file" since June 2014 would be put under house arrest. Diab, the prime minister, said that he "will not rest until we find the person responsible for what happened."

But many residents and commentators see the disaster as symptomatic if not directly caused by the general state of upheaval into which the country has slid.

It is currently suffering its worst economic crisis in its modern history, with prices, unemployment and hunger skyrocketing and its currency, the lira, plummeting.

Anti-government protests in recent months have called for a change to what they see as decades of corrupt leadership, with sectarian politics and patronage networks enriching the elite and creating grave inequality. Hezbollah, an Iranian proxy officially designated a terrorist organization by the U.S., is a political group with unrivaled influence in the government.

Image: Police scuffle with protesters in Beirut (Hassan Ammar / AP)

The country was already struggling to cope with the 1.5 million refugees who have fled there from the war in neighboring Syria. These displaced people now make up 30 percent of its population — the highest proportion in the world.

Add to this the coronavirus pandemic, which has shuttered businesses, left thousands unemployed and threatens to overwhelm the country's beleaguered health system.

Tuesday's explosion ripped through a city on its knees. Not only has it wrought widespread damage, it has cripped the country's main port and immolated a month of grain reserves.

Human rights groups were among those to call for an international team to lead the inquiry into how this could have happened.

"The level of devastation in Beirut is incomprehensible, and the responsible authorities should be held accountable," Aya Majzoub, Lebanon researcher at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement.

"Given the Lebanese authorities’ repeated failure to investigate serious government failings and the public’s distrust of government institutions," Majzoub added, "an independent investigation with international experts is the best guarantee that victims of the explosion will get the justice they deserve."




Alexander Smith reported from London, Matthew Bodner reported from Moscow, Charlene Gubash reported from Cairo and Mustafa Kassem reported from Beirut. Reuters contributed to this report.

UPDATE
Police and protesters clashed in Lebanon amid fiery demonstrations criticizing the government for the Beirut explosion

Sarah El Deeb and Bassem Mroue,
Associated Press

People clash with police during a protest against the political elites and the government after this week's deadly explosion in Beirut, Lebanon, Saturday, Aug. 8, 2020. Felipe Dana/APLarge crowds of protesters clashed with police during fiery demonstrations in Beirut, Lebanon, on Saturday amid mounting fury over the explosion that devastated the city earlier this week. 

Activists called for action against alleged negligence from officials after the explosion that killed nearly 160 people.

Officials are investigating the blast that was fueled by thousands of tons of ammonium nitrate that had been improperly stored at the city's port for more than six years.


BEIRUT (AP) — Security forces fired tear gas and clashed with stone-throwing demonstrators Saturday in Beirut, and a group of protesters stormed the foreign ministry amid mounting fury over this week's explosion that devastated much of the city and killed nearly 160 people. Dozens were still missing and nearly 6,000 people injured.

Activists who called for the protest set up symbolic nooses at Beirut's Martyrs' Square to hang politicians whose corruption and negligence they blame for Tuesday's blast.

The explosion was fueled by thousands of tons of ammonium nitrate that had been improperly stored at the city's port for more than six years. Apparently set off by a fire, the blast was by far the biggest in Lebanon's troubled history and caused an estimated $10 billion to 15 billion in damage, according to Beirut's governor. It also damaged 6,200 buildings and left hundreds of thousands of people homeless.

DIY NO GOVERNMENT HELP LATER THEY WILL PROTEST

Women with brooms pass by a historic building damaged by Tuesday's explosion in the Gemmayzeh neighborhood, Beirut, Lebanon, Saturday, Aug. 8, 2020. Hassan Ammar/AP

The disaster has taken popular anger to a new level in a country already reeling from an unprecedented economic and financial crisis and near bankruptcy.

"Resignation or hang," read a banner held by protesters, who also planned to hold a symbolic funeral for the dead. Some nooses were also set up along the bridges outside the Port.

Khodr Ghadir, 23, said the noose was for everyone who has been in power for the last 30 years. "What happened was a spark for people to return to the streets."

A placard listed the names of the dead, printed over a photo of the blast's enormous pink mushroom cloud. "We are here for you," it read.

In a televised speech Saturday evening, Prime Minister Hassan Diab said the only solution was to hold early elections, which he planned to propose in a draft bill. He called on all political parties to put aside their disagreements and said he was prepared to stay in the post for two months to allow time for politicians to work on structural reforms.

The offer is unlikely to soothe the escalating fury on the street.

In central Beirut, some protesters threw stones at security forces who responded with heavy tear gas. Near parliament, protesters tried to jump over barriers that closed the road leading to the legislature. The protesters later set on fire a truck that was fortifying barriers on a road leading to parliament.

THE ONLY SECTION OF THE GOVERNMENT TO APPEAR

People clash with police during a protest in Beirut, Lebanon, Saturday, Aug. 8, 2020. Hassan Ammar/AP

At least 142 people were hurt in the clashes, and 32 of them needed to be taken to the hospital, according to the Red Cross. Several protesters were seen being carried away with blood running down their faces. At one point, gunfire could be heard, but its source was not immediately clear.

In the capital's hard-hit Achrafieh district, a group of protesters, including retired army officers, stormed the building of the foreign ministry, vowing to make it the headquarters for the "revolution."


Documents that surfaced after the blast showed that officials had been repeatedly warned for years that the presence of 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate at the port posed a grave danger, but no one acted to remove it. Officials have been blaming one another, and 19 people have been detained, including the port's chief, the head of Lebanon's customs department and his predecessor.

"We will support Lebanon through all available means," Ahmed Aboul Gheit, the secretary-general of the 22-member Arab League told reporters after meeting President Michel Aoun on Saturday morning. Aboul Gheit said he would take part in a donors conference for Lebanon in France on Sunday and convey Lebanon's demands to the international community.

Later on Saturday, the president of the European Council, Charles Michel, arrived in Beirut for a brief visit. Turkey's vice president and the country's foreign minister met Aoun and said that Ankara was ready to help rebuild Beirut's port and evacuate some of the wounded to Turkey for treatment.

At the site of the blast, workers continued searching for dozens of missing people. Bulldozers were also seen removing debris near a cluster of giant grain silos that were heavily damaged but still partly standing.


International aid has been flowing to Lebanon for days, and several field hospitals have been set up around Beirut to help treat the wounded.

President Donald Trump said Friday that he had spoken by telephone with Aoun and French President Emmanuel Macron, who paid a brief visit to Lebanon on Thursday. Trump noted that medical supplies, food and water were being sent from the United States, along with emergency responders, technicians, doctors and nurses.

The ammonium nitrate, a chemical used in fertilizers and explosives, originated from a cargo ship called MV Rhosus that had been traveling from the country of Georgia to Mozambique in 2013. It made an unscheduled detour to Beirut as the Russian shipowner was struggling with debts and hoped to earn some extra cash in Lebanon. Unable to pay port fees and reportedly leaking, the ship was impounded.

In 2014, the material was moved from the ship and placed in a warehouse at the port where it stayed until the explosion.Read the original article on Associated Press. Copyright 2020. Follow Associated Press on Twitter.

Lebanon protesters slam French 'cooperation' with political leaders

A protest movement that erupted in October last year has been revived since the blast, Lebanon's worst peace-time disaster that has sparked rage against official neglect and a political class accused of squandering away the country - AFP

Beirut (AFP)

Protesters in Beirut Tuesday called for a "new Lebanon" without its reviled leaders, urging visiting French President Emmanuel Macron not to cooperate with them.

Clashes erupted in the evening between angry demonstrators and security forces, who responded with tear gas, while earlier in the afternoon, people demonstrating in the capital called for urgent change.

Several held up black versions of the Lebanese flag in mourning for the victims of the massive explosion at Beirut's port on August 4 that killed 188, injured thousands and ravaged large parts of the city.


A protest movement that erupted in October last year has been revived since the blast, Lebanon's worst peace-time disaster that has sparked rage against official neglect and a political class accused of squandering away the country.

Demonstrators asked why Macron was meeting those very same leaders in his push for political change as the country marked 100 years since the former French mandate authorities proclaimed the creation of Greater Lebanon.

"He should come and listen to us, help us to realise our aspirations, not sit with the corrupt and criminals who killed their own people," said Rima, a 46-year-old protester.

In the capital's Martyrs Square, not far from the port, demonstrators one by one took to a stage to make their demands: a secular state, civil marriage, a productive economy.

Waving Lebanese flags and denouncing "corrupt" politicians, others nearby demanded the birth of a new secular state and the end of what they view as a broken political power-sharing system.

"The first century has been nothing but wars, foreign occupation, poverty, corruption, emigration, sectarian divisions, and now this explosion that killed and wounded thousands," said 21-year-old port worker Omar.

"We urgently need to revamp this system," he said, referring to a political arrangement that seeks to share power between Lebanon's myriad religious communities but instead often leads to endless deadlock.

- '(French) teargas' -

A loudspeaker blared patriotic songs as images of the French proclamation of Greater Lebanon on September 1, 1920, as well as of the port blast last month, played on a screen.

Zalfa, 70, said: "We want this second century to be one of secularism."

Clashes erupted in the evening, sparking condemnation from activists and rights defenders over the authorities' use of force.

"While Macron is meeting Lebanon officials, protesters are saying the entire ruling class has lost legitimacy," wrote Human Rights Watch researcher Aya Majzoub on Twitter.

"They have been met with large quantities of (French) teargas, beatings, and arrests. In one incident, more than 10 police beat/kicked a protester on the ground," she said.

An AFP reporter saw a large group of security forces with batons move in on protesters. One demonstrator was helped away afterwards with blood splashed across her gas mask.

The Red Cross said one wounded person had to be transported to hospital.

Lebanon's previous government stepped down after the port blast last month.

A new prime minister, little-known diplomat Mustapha Adib, was tasked Monday to form a new cabinet, just hours before Macron's visit.

The August 4 explosion came after months of Lebanon's worst economic crisis in decades -- which has seen poverty soar to more than half the population -- and a coronavirus outbreak.

© 2020 AFP

BBC UPDATES
The blast struck Beirut's port district and beyond
Beirut blast: Dozens dead and thousands injured, health minister says



The moment a huge explosion rocked Beirut has been captured from many angles

A large blast in the Lebanese capital, Beirut, has killed at least 70 people and injured more than 4,000 others, the health minister says.

Videos show smoke billowing from a fire, then a mushroom cloud following the blast at the city's port.

Officials are blaming highly explosive materials stored in a warehouse for six years.

President Michel Aoun tweeted it was "unacceptable" that 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate was stored unsafely.

An investigation is under way to find the exact trigger for the explosion. Lebanon's Supreme Defence Council said those responsible would face the "maximum punishment" possible.

Hospitals are said to be overwhelmed and many buildings have been destroyed.

President Aoun declared a three-day mourning period, and said the government would release 100 billion lira (£50.5m; $66m) of emergency funds.

A BBC journalist at the scene reported dead bodies and severe damage, enough to put the port of Beirut out of action.
In pictures: Chaos and destruction in Beirut after blast
Lebanon: Why the country is in crisis

Prime Minister Hassan Diab called it a catastrophe and said those responsible must be held to account.

He spoke of a "dangerous warehouse" which had been there since 2014, but said he would not pre-empt the investigation.

Local media showed people trapped beneath rubble. A witness described the first explosion as deafening, and video footage showed wrecked cars and blast-damaged buildings.

"All the buildings around here have collapsed. I'm walking through glass and debris everywhere, in the dark," one witness near the port told AFP news agency.

The blast was heard 240km (150 miles) away on the island of Cyprus in the eastern Mediterranean.

The explosion comes at a sensitive time for Lebanon, with an economic crisis reigniting old divisions. Tensions are also high ahead of Friday's verdict in a trial over the killing of ex-Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in 2005.
'Glass going down from all over the building'

Hadi Nasrallah, eyewitness speaking to the BBC

I saw the fire, but I didn't yet know there was going to be an explosion. We went inside. Suddenly I lost my hearing because apparently I was too close. I lost my hearing for a few seconds, I knew something was wrong.

And then suddenly the glass just shattered all over the car, the cars around us, the shops, the stores, the buildings. Just glass going down from all over the building.

Literally all over Beirut, people were calling each other from different areas kilometres away and they were experiencing the same thing: broken glass, buildings shaking, a loud explosion.

Actually we were shocked because usually when it happens, just one area will experience those happenings after an explosion, but this time it was all of Beirut, even areas outside of Beirut.

Sunniva Rose, journalist

"Driving into Beirut early evening when it was still light, it was absolute chaos. The streets were literally covered in glass. It's hard for ambulances to go through - there's bricks, cement slabs. Houses have collapsed.

"When I got to the port it had been closed off by the army. The army said to stay away in case there was a second explosion.

"There was still smoke going up into the sky late into the evening. The whole city was black. It was very hard to walk around, people were covered in blood. I saw an 86-year-old woman being treated by a doctor who had just run out of his home with a first aid kit. Cars were entirely smashed by rocks. These old-style houses with big cuts of rock had just fallen down on the street.

"It's pandemonium in my own flat, all the glass is shattered. The extent of the damage is extreme. Even in a mall 2km away - the whole facade was shattered."
How have other countries reacted?

Lebanon's prime minister also called for international help: "I make an urgent appeal to friendly and brotherly countries... to stand by Lebanon and to help us heal our deep wounds," Hassan Diab said.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson tweeted: "The pictures and videos from Beirut tonight are shocking. All of my thoughts and prayers are with those caught up in this terrible incident.

"The UK is ready to provide support in any way we can, including to those British nationals affected."

US President Donald Trump sent his deepest sympathies after what he called "a terrible attack", and his Secretary of State Mike Pompeo offered assistance, tweeting: "We are monitoring and stand ready to assist the people of Lebanon as they recover from this horrible tragedy." 

EPA Buildings were shattered, balconies ripped off

France said it was sending aid and resources to Lebanon.

Iran would "render assistance in any way necessary" Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif tweeted, while Saudi Arabia expressed its full solidarity with Lebanon.

Israel said in a statement that it had "approached Lebanon through international security and diplomatic channels and has offered the Lebanese government medical and humanitarian assistance".

The German foreign ministry said the blast had been felt at its embassy in the city.

"We cannot for the moment exclude German nationals figuring among the dead and wounded," it said in a statement.

REUTERS A massive recovery effort is under way

What's the situation in Lebanon?

Lebanon is experiencing political turmoil, with street demonstrations against the government's handling of the worst economic crisis since the 1975-1990 civil war.

Many blame the ruling elite who have dominated politics for years and amassed their own wealth while failing to carry out the sweeping reforms necessary to solve the country's problems. People have to deal with daily power cuts, a lack of safe drinking water and limited public healthcare.

There has also been tension on the border with Israel, which said last week that it had thwarted an attempt by Hezbollah to infiltrate Israeli territory. But a senior Israeli official has told the BBC that "Israel has no connection" to the Beirut blast.

The blast happened close to the scene of the huge car bombing which killed ex-PM Hariri. Tuesday's blast also came days before the long-awaited verdict in the trial at a special court in the Netherlands of four men accused of orchestrating the attack.

UPDATED Offers of assistance pour in for Lebanon after deadly Beirut explosions
Issued on: 04/08/2020

A general view of the scene of after blasts at the port of Lebanon's capital Beirut on August 4, 2020. © STR, AFP

Text by:FRANCE 24
5

Countries around the world have been paying tribute to victims of two deadly blasts in Beirut on Tuesday and sending offers of assistance to Lebanon, a country already reeling from the effects of overlapping crises before disaster struck its capital.

"France stands and will always stand by the side of Lebanon and the Lebanese. It is ready to provide assistance according to the needs expressed by the Lebanese authorities," French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said in a tweet after the incident in Beirut which left scores dead and wounded thousands more.

French President Emmanuel Macron said French aid and resources were being sent to Lebanon.


❝I express my fraternal solidarity with the Lebanese people after the explosion which claimed so many victims and caused so much damage this evening in Beirut. France stands alongside Lebanon. And always will. French assistance and resources are on their way❞

➖@EmmanuelMacron https://t.co/ErPdFObpV2— France Diplomacy🇫🇷 (@francediplo_EN) August 4, 2020

In Britain, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said his country stood ready to provide any support it could to help.

"The pictures and videos from Beirut tonight are shocking," Johnson wrote on Twitter. "All of my thoughts and prayers are with those caught up in this terrible incident.


"The UK is ready to provide support in any way we can, including to those British nationals affected."

In the United States, the State Department was closely following reports of an explosion in Beirut and stands ready to offer 'all possible assistance', a spokesperson for the agency said

The State Department has no information about the cause of the explosion, the spokesperson said and added that the agency is working closely with local authorities to determine if any US citizens were affected in the incident.



We share the pain of the Lebanese people and sincerely reach out to offer our aid at this difficult time.— Reuven Rivlin (@PresidentRuvi) August 4, 2020

Israel offered humanitarian aid to Lebanon, with which it is still technically at war, after Tuesday's explosions.

"Following the explosion in Beirut, Defense Minister Benny Gantz and Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi, on behalf of the State of Israel, have offered the Lebanese government -- via international intermediaries -- medical and humanitarian aid, as well as immediate emergency assistance," said a joint statement from the two ministries.

Meanwhile, Iran's top diplomat expressed Tehran's support for the "resilient" people of Lebanon after the blasts.

"Our thoughts and prayers are with the great and resilient people of Lebanon," Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif tweeted.

"As always, Iran is fully prepared to render assistance in any way necessary," he said. "Stay strong, Lebanon."


Our thoughts and prayers are with the great and resilient people of Lebanon.

As always, Iran is fully prepared to render assistance in any way necessary.

Stay strong, Lebanon.

🖤🇱🇧— Javad Zarif (@JZarif) August 4, 2020

Countries in the Gulf paid tribute to victims as well, with Qatar saying it would send field hospitals to support Lebanon's medical response.

Qatar's ruler Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani called President Michel Aoun to offer condolences, according to the state-run Qatar News Agency.

Sheikh Tamim wished "a speedy recovery for the injured", QNA reported, adding that he "expressed Qatar's solidarity with brotherly Lebanon and its willingness to provide all kinds of assistance".

Field hospitals would be dispatched, the report added.

Elsewhere in the Gulf, the United Arab Emirates' Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash tweeted that "our hearts are with Beirut and its people".

He posted the tribute alongside an image of Dubai's Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest building, illuminated in the colours of the Lebanese flag.

"Our prayers during these difficult hours are that God... protects brotherly Lebanon and the Lebanese to reduce their affliction and heal their wounds," he wrote.

Gulf countries including Qatar and the UAE maintain close ties with Beirut and have long provided financial aid and diplomatic assistance to mediate Lebanon's political and sectarian divisions.

Bahrain's foreign ministry urged its nationals in Lebanon to contact the ministry's operations centre or Manama's representative in Beirut, while Kuwait ordered its citizens to take extreme caution and stay indoors.

It also asked those in need of assistance to contact their embassy.


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The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees extended his best wishes after the tragedy in Beirut.



With my many Lebanese friends and colleagues tonight, and with all the people of Lebanon — in solidarity, wishing them renewed strength and much courage. pic.twitter.com/C5ORnOovTu— Filippo Grandi (@FilippoGrandi) August 4, 2020

"With my many Lebanese friends and colleagues tonight, and with all the people of Lebanon — in solidarity, wishing them renewed strength and much courage," UNHCR chief Filippo Grandi tweeted Tuesday. Lebanon, a country of around 4.5 million people has been disproportionately affected by the war in neighbouring Syria with an influx of an estimated 1.5 million refugees.

"My thoughts and heart are with people in Beirut, Lebanon, who lost loved ones or were injured in the explosion this afternoon," World Health Organization (WHO) chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus tweeted Tuesday, expressing his support for a country already reeling from the coronavirus pandemic among other crises.

The WHO's director-general added that his organization "stands ready to support the government and healthworkers in saving lives".

(FRANCE 24 with AFP and REUTERS)
Scores dead, thousands wounded as massive explosions rock Beirut


Issued on: 04/08/2020 - 17:54

Text by:FRANCE 24Follow|

Video by:Nadia MASSIH AT END OF ARTICLE

Two huge explosions rocked the Lebanese capital Beirut on Tuesday, shaking buildings and sending huge plumes of smoke billowing into the sky. The country's health minister said at least 50 people had been killed and more than 2,750 injured.

Lebanese LBC television channel had earlier quoted Health Minister Hamad Hasan saying an explosion in central Beirut had caused a "very high number of injuries" and extensive damage.

Lebanese media carried images of people trapped under rubble, some bloodied, after the massive explosions, the cause of which was not immediately known.

Powerful blasts rocked the Lebanese capital on August 4, 2020. © FMM Graphic Studio

A security source confirmed that two explosions shook the port area of the city, Lebanon's largest urban area.

Lebanon's internal security chief Abbas Ibrahim said that a massive blast in Beirut's port area occurred in a section housing highly-explosive materials, and not explosive as had been reported earlier by the official state news agency NNA.

Stunning video shows explosions just minutes ago at Beirut port pic.twitter.com/ZjltF0VcTr— Borzou Daragahi 🖊🗒 (@borzou) August 4, 2020

An AFP correspondent at the scene said every shop in the Hamra commercial district had sustained damage, with entire shopfronts destroyed, windows shattered and many cars wrecked.

Injured people were walking in the street, while outside the Clemenceau Medical Centre, dozens of wounded people, many covered in blood, were rushing to be admitted to the centre including children.

Destroyed cars had been abandoned in the street with their airbags inflated.

pic.twitter.com/IWMjT2jYWW— Lebanese Red Cross (@RedCrossLebanon) August 4, 2020

A huge cloud of black smoke was engulfing the entire port area, the AFP correspondent said.

The loud blasts in Beirut's port area were felt across the city and beyond and some districts lost electricity.

"Buildings are shaking," tweeted one resident, while another wrote: "An enormous, deafening explosion just engulfed Beirut. Heard it from miles away."

Online footage from a Lebanese newspaper office showed blown out windows, scattered furniture and demolished interior panelling.



BREAKING: Massive explosion in Beirut. Footage from the daily star office now in Lebanon pic.twitter.com/2uBsKP5wCH— Ghada Alsharif (@GhadaaSharif) August 4, 2020

The explosions came at a time when Lebanon is suffering its worst economic crisis in decades, which has left nearly half of the population in poverty.

Lebanon's economy has collapsed in recent months, with the local currency plummeting against the dollar, businesses closing en masse and poverty soaring at the same alarming rate as unemployment.

One more video of downtown Beirut. The reconstruction of this area symbolized Lebanon’s emergence from the civil war. pic.twitter.com/jMEWc8Kfuw— DavidKenner (@DavidKenner) August 4, 2020

The explosions also come as Lebanon awaits the verdict on Friday on the 2005 murder of former Lebanese premier Rafic Hariri, killed in a huge truck bomb attack.

Four alleged members of the Shiite Muslim fundamentalist group Hezbollah are on trial in absentia at the court in the Netherlands over the huge Beirut suicide bombing that killed Sunni billionaire Hariri and 21 other people.

A woman in the city centre told AFP: "It felt like an earthquake ... I felt it was bigger than the explosion in the assassination of Rafic Hariri in 2005".

Tensions have also been high with neighbouring Israel, after Israel said it thwarted an infiltration attempt by up to five Hezbollah gunmen, a claim denied by the Iran-backed group.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP and REUTERS)

Two explosions rock Beirut, dozens wounded
Issued on: 04/08/2020 - 18:14 
VIDEO AT THE END 

The blast in Beirut's port area sent a huge plume of smoke into the sky Anwar AMRO AFP

Beirut (AFP)

Two huge explosion rocked the Lebanese capital Beirut on Tuesday, wounding dozens of people, shaking buildings and sending huge plumes of smoke billowing into the sky.

Lebanese media carried images of people trapped under rubble, some bloodied, after the massive explosions, the cause of which was not immediately known.

A security source confirmed that two explosions shook the port area of the city, Lebanon's largest urban area, leaving dozens wounded.


An AFP correspondent at the scene said every shop in the Hamra commercial district had sustained damage, with entire shopfronts destroyed, windows shattered and many cars wrecked.

Injured people were walking in the street, while outside the Clemenceau Medical Centre, dozens of wounded people, many covered in blood, were rushing to be admitted to the centre including children.

Destroyed cars had been abandoned in the street with their airbags inflated.

A huge cloud of black smoke was engulfing the entire port area, the AFP correspondent said.

The loud blasts in Beirut's port area were felt across the city and beyond and some districts lost electricity.

"Buildings are shaking," tweeted one resident, while another wrote: "An enormous, deafening explosion just engulfed Beirut. Heard it from miles away."

Online footage from a Lebanese newspaper office showed blown out windows, scattered furniture and demolished interior panelling.

The explosions came at a time when Lebanon is suffering its worst economic crisis in decades, which has left nearly half of the population in poverty.

Lebanon's economy has collapsed in recent months, with the local currency plummeting against the dollar, businesses closing en masse and poverty soaring at the same alarming rate as unemployment.

The explosions also come as Lebanon awaits the verdict on Friday on the 2005 murder of former Lebanese premier Rafic Hariri, killed in a huge truck bomb attack.

Four alleged members of the Shiite Muslim fundamentalist group Hezbollah are on trial in absentia at the court in the Netherlands over the huge Beirut suicide bombing that killed Sunni billionaire Hariri and 21 other people.

A woman in the city centre told AFP: "It felt like an earthquake ... I felt it was bigger than the explosion in the assassination of Rafic Hariri in 2005".

Tensions have also been high with neighbouring Israel, after Israel said it thwarted an infiltration attempt by up to five Hezbollah gunmen, a claim denied by the Iran-backed group.

© 2020 AFP

Two deadly massive explosions rock Lebanese capital Beirut
Issued on: 04/08/2020 - 17:54

Text by:FRANCE 24Follow

Two huge explosions rocked the Lebanese capital Beirut on Tuesday, wounding dozens of people, shaking buildings and sending huge plumes of smoke billowing into the sky.

Lebanese LBC television channel quoted Health Minister Hamad Hasan saying an explosion in central Beirut had caused a "very high number of injuries" and extensive damage.

At least 10 bodies were taken to hospitals, a security source and a medical source told Reuters. The Lebanese Red Cross said hundreds of people were taken hospitals for treatment.

Lebanese media carried images of people trapped under rubble, some bloodied, after the massive explosions, the cause of which was not immediately known.

A security source confirmed that two explosions shook the port area of the city, Lebanon's largest urban area, leaving dozens wounded.

Lebanon's internal security chief Abbas Ibrahim said that a massive blast in Beirut's port area occurred in a section housing highly-explosive materials, and not explosive as had been reported earlier by the official state news agency NNA.

Stunning video shows explosions just minutes ago at Beirut port pic.twitter.com/ZjltF0VcTr— Borzou Daragahi 🖊🗒 (@borzou) August 4, 2020

An AFP correspondent at the scene said every shop in the Hamra commercial district had sustained damage, with entire shopfronts destroyed, windows shattered and many cars wrecked.

Injured people were walking in the street, while outside the Clemenceau Medical Centre, dozens of wounded people, many covered in blood, were rushing to be admitted to the centre including children.

Destroyed cars had been abandoned in the street with their airbags inflated.

A huge cloud of black smoke was engulfing the entire port area, the AFP correspondent said.

The loud blasts in Beirut's port area were felt across the city and beyond and some districts lost electricity.

"Buildings are shaking," tweeted one resident, while another wrote: "An enormous, deafening explosion just engulfed Beirut. Heard it from miles away."

Online footage from a Lebanese newspaper office showed blown out windows, scattered furniture and demolished interior panelling.

BREAKING: Massive explosion in Beirut. Footage from the daily star office now in Lebanon pic.twitter.com/2uBsKP5wCH— Ghada Alsharif (@GhadaaSharif) August 4, 2020

The explosions came at a time when Lebanon is suffering its worst economic crisis in decades, which has left nearly half of the population in poverty.

Lebanon's economy has collapsed in recent months, with the local currency plummeting against the dollar, businesses closing en masse and poverty soaring at the same alarming rate as unemployment.

One more video of downtown Beirut. The reconstruction of this area symbolized Lebanon’s emergence from the civil war. pic.twitter.com/jMEWc8Kfuw— DavidKenner (@DavidKenner) August 4, 2020

The explosions also come as Lebanon awaits the verdict on Friday on the 2005 murder of former Lebanese premier Rafic Hariri, killed in a huge truck bomb attack.

Four alleged members of the Shiite Muslim fundamentalist group Hezbollah are on trial in absentia at the court in the Netherlands over the huge Beirut suicide bombing that killed Sunni billionaire Hariri and 21 other people.

A woman in the city centre told AFP: "It felt like an earthquake ... I felt it was bigger than the explosion in the assassination of Rafic Hariri in 2005".

Tensions have also been high with neighbouring Israel, after Israel said it thwarted an infiltration attempt by up to five Hezbollah gunmen, a claim denied by the Iran-backed group.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP and REUTERS)

Massive explosion rocks Lebanese capital Beirut

Published August 4, 2020 By Agence France-Presse

A huge explosion rocked the Lebanese capital Beirut on Tuesday, shaking buildings, shattering windows and sending a huge plume of smoke into the sky, AFP correspondents said.

Lebanese media carried images of people trapped under rubble, some bloodied, after the massive explosion, the cause of which was not immediately known.

The loud blast in Beirut‘s port area was felt across large parts of the city and some districts lost electricity.

Preliminary reports by local Lebanese media said the blast may have been the result of an incident at Beirut port.



BREAKING: Massive explosion in Beirut. Footage from the daily star office now in Lebanon pic.twitter.com/2uBsKP5wCH
— Ghada Alsharif (@GhadaaSharif) August 4, 2020

“Buildings are shaking,” tweeted one resident, while another wrote: “An enormous, deafening explosion just engulfed Beirut. Heard it from miles away”.

Online footage from a Lebanese newspaper office showed blown out windows, scattered furniture and demolished interior panelling.