Wed 05 August 2020:
The secretary-general of the Lebanese Red Cross on Wednesday said victims of Tuesday’s explosion at the Port of Beirut have risen to 100 and more than 4,000 were injured.
In a televised statement aired by Lebanese broadcaster LBC, George Kettaneh said Beirut hospitals no longer have the capacity to absorb the rising number of victims.
He added that the death toll has risen to 100 and more than 4,000 have been injured, with some of them still under the debris.
Officials said they expected the death toll to rise further after Tuesday’s blast as emergency workers dug through rubble to rescue people and remove the dead.
President Michel Aoun called for an emergency cabinet meeting on Wednesday and said a two-week state of emergency should be declared.
Aoun said that it is “unacceptable” that 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate were stored in a warehouse for six years without safety measures, according to statements published on the presidency’s Twitter account.
Aoun also pledged that those responsible would face the “harshest punishments” and said a two-week state of emergency should be declared.
Lebanon’s High Defence Council, which brings together the president and all major security agencies,declared Beirut a disaster-stricken city.
After the council meeting at the Baabda presidential palace, which was also attended by Prime Minister Hassan Diab, the following was announced:
– An investigation committee has been tasked to say who was responsible for the blast within five days.
– The families of victims will be paid compensation.
– Import traffic will be routed to the Tripoli port in northern Lebanon.
US President Donald Trump said the huge explosion that shook Beirut appeared to be a “terrible attack.”
“We have a very good relationship with the people of Lebanon and we will be there to help. It looks like a terrible attack,” Trump told reporters at the White House.
“I’ve met with some of our great generals and they just seem to feel that this was not some kind of manufacturing explosion type of an event … They seem to think it was an attack. It was a bomb of some kind.”
The US president, however, did not present any evidence to back his claim.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has spoken with his Lebanese counterpart, Michel Aoun, and said Turkey is ready to provide humanitarian aid as needed, the presidency has said.
Qatar has promised to send field hospitals to support the medical response.
During a phone call with Aoun, Qatar’s ruler Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani offered his condolences and wished “a speedy recovery for the injured”, Qatar News Agency reported.
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