At least 100 dead and 4000 wounded, due to Beirut port explosion

Beirut, (ST) – Secretary-General of the Lebanese Red Cross, George Kettana announced that the death toll from a massive explosion that hit Beirut Port on Tuesday reached about 100 and  dozens still missing 

Kettana said in a televised speech that there are more than 4000 wounded person as a result of the explosion, some of them are in critical conditions, noting that a large number of hospitals have received the victims of the explosion and are working at full capacity.

The Director General of the Lebanese Civil Defense, General Raymond Khattar, announced that the rescue teams divided the port into groups in the survey operations and said that we “need help to remove the rubble through bulldozers and others.”

Khattar pointed out that there are teams looking for victims in the sea, indicating that the grain silos in the port are in danger of its collapse, calling on the engineers to assist in the restoration operations.

During a meeting, the Lebanese Supreme Defense Council, headed by Lebanese President Michel Aoun, recommended that the cabinet announce Beirut as a “disaster city” and declare a state of emergency for two weeks.

The Council decided to entrust an investigation committee to investigate the reasons that led to this disaster, provided that the results of the investigations be submitted to the competent judicial authorities within a maximum period of five days from its date to take the maximum levels of measures against those   responsible of this disaster.

President Aoun decided to release the extraordinary accreditation stipulated in Article 85 of the Constitution and in the budget of 2020, which amounts to 100 billion Lebanese pounds and is allocated to exceptional and emergency circumstances, as Lebanese Prime Minister Hassan Diab announced national mourning and closure for three days.

Meanwhile, the reactions of solidarity with Lebanon have continued, as Iranian President Hassan Rouhani affirmed his country’s readiness to offer all medical, therapeutic and pharmaceutical assistance to Lebanon.

In Havana, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Cuba, Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla offered condolences to the Lebanese government and people over the victims of the explosion hit Beirut Port on Tuesday, expressing his country’s solidarity with Lebanon and its people.

Raghda Sawas