2024 RT Amination Banner.gif

China Daily

Asia Pacific> Asia News> Content
Thursday, September 10, 2020, 23:07
Huge blaze rattles Beirut residents a month after blast
By Reuters
Thursday, September 10, 2020, 23:07 By Reuters

Black smoke rises from a fire at warehouses at the seaport in Beirut, Lebanon, Sept 10. 2020. A huge fire broke out Thursday at the Port of Beirut, triggering panic among residents traumatized by last month's massive explosion that killed and injured thousands of people. (HUSSEIN MALLA / AP)

BEIRUT - A large fire erupted on Thursday at Beirut port, sending a huge column of smoke above the city a little more than a month after a massive blast devastated the port and surrounding residential area of the Lebanese capital.

The head of Lebanon’s Red Cross, George Kettaneh, said there was no fear of another explosion as a result of Thursday’s fire and there were no injuries

The blaze erupted in the shattered duty-free zone of the port and one official said it was limited to that area.

“For sure we were scared, it’s only been a month since the explosion that destroyed Beirut. We saw the same thing happening again,” said 53-year-old Andre Muarbes.

Army helicopters dropped water on the fire, as firefighters battled the blaze on the ground.

There were no immediate reports of injuries but the blaze strained nerves already on edge in a nation grappling with a deep economic crisis that has posed the biggest threat to Lebanon’s stability since its 1975-1990 civil war.

Michel Najjar, public works minister in the outgoing government which resigned in the wake of the blast, told Lebanon’s MTV the fire had been brought under control, saying initial indications suggested the blaze was sparked by repair work at the port.

A military source said it appeared to have started when cooking oil caught fire and spread to stores of tyres. At one point, live television footage had shown flames licking up near a pile of tires in a warehouse ruined by last month’s explosion.

The Aug 4 blast killed about 190 people and injured 6,000.

ALSO READ: More explosive chemicals found outside Beirut port after huge blast

Majed Hassanein, 49, was taking his wife and two children out of the capital by car. “I am forced to get them out of Beirut from the smoke and the fire that is happening at the port again,” he said.

His son, he said, was still suffering shock from the blast that ruined a swathe of capital near the port, leaving about 300,000 people without inhabitable homes and shattering windows across the city.

The head of Lebanon’s Red Cross, George Kettaneh, said there was no fear of another explosion as a result of Thursday’s fire and there were no injuries, although he said there were some people suffering from shortness of breath.

The public prosecutor ordered an immediate investigation. Many Lebanese are frustrated that they have not been told about any initial findings from an investigation into the port blast, more than a month after it ripped through Beirut.

Carmen Geha, an activist and associate professor at the American University of Beirut, said the fire was further proof of mismanagement by a ruling elite, who have dragged the nation into crisis after years of corruption and poor governance.

“It’s a gross crime, gross negligence and gross arrogance,” she said. “You can’t trust them to manage anything.”

READ MORE: 25 held over Beirut explosion, says Lebanon's president

Firefighters were shown in television footage dousing the port fire surrounded by mangled remains of warehouses destroyed in last month’s explosion, which was caused by a store of ammonium nitrate that had been kept in poor condition at the port for years.

Share this story

CHINA DAILY
HONG KONG NEWS
OPEN
Please click in the upper right corner to open it in your browser !