Beirut explosion – latest news: Lebanon declares state of emergency as over 300,000 left homeless and at least 135 dead following blast

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Aerial footage shows devastating impact of Beirut explosion

Lebanon’s cabinet has declared a two-week state of emergency in Beirut following a huge explosion at the city’s port which sent shock waves across the capital on Tuesday, killing at least 135 people and injuring thousands.

Marwan Abboud, Beirut’s governor, said more than 300,000 citizens had been left unable to sleep in their own homes due to the explosion, which is thought to have been caused by 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate that was stored unsafely at the port for six years.

It came as ministers agreed to place Beirut’s port officials under house arrest until responsibility for the disaster has been determined and documents revealed custom officials had warned of the “serious danger” posed by the chemical stockpile years before the explosion yesterday.

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Key Points

• Raab promises £5m support package for Lebanon
• Death toll rises to at least 135, with 5,000 injured
• Lebanese government declares two-week state of emergency
• Death toll in Beirut rises to 113, with over 4,000 wounded
• Lebanon to place Beirut port officials under house arrest
• More than 300,000 people homeless after blast, Beirut’s governor says
• Lebanon’s main grain silo destroyed, leaving country with low reserves
• ‘Negligence’ over highly explosive material led to blast, official source says
• Officials 'warned of serious danger posed by ammonium nitrate' years ago

[5 August 2020 15:38 · Conrad Duncan]

Opinion: ‘Corruption brought Lebanon to its knees. The explosion was a coup de grâce’

Our former Middle East correspondent, Richard Hall, has written about the dire situation in Lebanon before yesterday’s explosion and the anger within the country after years of crises.

Richard writes:

“Countries have gone to war and not experienced the level of devastation seen in Lebanon these past six months. These overlapping crises make the explosion that rocked Beirut appear less of a disaster and more like a coup de grâce. A country that was on its knees has been dealt a deadly blow, and it is hard to see how it will recover.”

You can find his full piece below:

[5 August 2020 15:50 · Conrad Duncan]

WHO to airlift medical supplies to Lebanon to treat burns and wounds

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has said it is airlifting medical supplies to Lebanon to cover up to 1,000 trauma interventions and up to 1,000 surgical interventions following the explosion in Beirut.

Tarik Jasarevic, a WHO spokesperson, said supplies airlifted from a “humanitarian hub” in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates would be used to treat burns and wounds caused by broken glass and other debris from the explosion.

The airlift followed a request from the Lebanese health minister, with the supplies expected to arrive in Lebanon later today.

Mr Jasarevic said that the WHO would “stand ready to also provide other urgent support.”

[5 August 2020 16:00 · Chiara.Giordano]

Lebanese government declares two-week state of emergency

The Lebanese government has declared a two-week state of emergency, effectively giving the military full powers during this time after a massive explosion devastated the capital, Beirut.

The government announced the measure during a cabinet meeting today.

It said it was putting an unspecified number of Beirut port officials under house arrest pending an investigation into how 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate came to be stored at the port for years.

The move comes amid speculation that negligence was to blame for the explosion that killed more than 100 people.

The cabinet also approved an exceptional allocation of 100 billion Lebanese pounds to deal with the crisis.

[5 August 2020 16:05 · Conrad Duncan]

Death toll in Beirut rises to at least 113

The death toll in Beirut has risen to at least 113 people, with more than 4,000 others injured after the explosion yesterday.

However, the total number of fatalities is likely to rise again as rescue workers are still searching for survivors in the wreckage of buildings.

Tens of thousands more people have been left without homes fit to live in following the blast, which smashed building facades and shattered glass across the city.

[5 August 2020 16:13 · Chiara.Giordano]

Here is what is understood to be the timeline of events leading up to the deadly blast:

[5 August 2020 16:20 · Chiara.Giordano]

Hundreds of Lebanese offer shelter to strangers

Using social media, hundreds of Lebanese have offered shelter to strangers displaced by the devastating blast, which Beirut's governor said may have left 250,000 people homeless.

Using the hashtag #OurHomesAreOpen in Arabic and English, social media users have freely offered up spare beds and empty properties to victims, providing their names, phone numbers and details on the size and location of the accommodation.

"I wanted to do something about it, I was going crazy," said the founder of the platform ThawraMap, originally used to identify protest locations, which is curating a list of available beds, including free accommodation from hotels.

"Today a lot more people are going to be homeless. They go to their family or friends for a day or two and then what are they going to do," the anti-government activist told Reuters.

ThawraMap, or Revolution Map, has been sharing its shelter list on Twitter and Instagram, along with a map of more than 50 locations offered so far, ranging from people with extra beds in their homes to hotels providing up to 40 rooms.

[5 August 2020 16:26 · Chiara.Giordano]

Lebanon's economy had already fallen over the precipice before this week's horrific blast, says Ben Chu.

Will this week’s tragedy break the impasse and unlock a much needed International Monetary Fund rescue package?

[5 August 2020 16:40 · Chiara.Giordano]

Satellite images show extent of damage at blast epicentre

Satellite images of the port of Beirut and surrounding area. Top image taken 31 May 2020, bottom taken 5 August 2020. (Planet Labs Inc via AP)

Satellite images show the area heavily damaged by explosion and blast wave. Top image dated 5 August 2020, bottom shows same area on 4 November 2019. (Russian Space Agency Roscosmos/Handout via Reuters)

[5 August 2020 16:49 · Chiara.Giordano]

For almost seven years more than 2,700 tonnes of ammonium nitrate had been left in a warehouse Beirut’s portside, without adequate safety precautions, and no agreement on what to do with the potentially hugely lethal consignment, reports The Independent's diplomatic editor Kim Sengupta.

The authorities were fully aware of the risk: they had been writing to each other over the years, discussing various options. But nothing was done, the condition of the material in Hanger 12 continued to deteriorate, and then came the devastating explosion killing more than a hundred people and injuring 4,000 – a blast so powerful that it was felt in Cyprus 120 miles away.

[5 August 2020 17:00 · Chiara.Giordano]

Death toll rises to 135, with 5,000 injured, Lebanese TV reports

Lebanon's health minister has told Al Manar television that the death toll from the explosion has now risen to 135, with some 5,000 people injured and tens still missing.