Beirut port resumes partial operations a week after horror blast

  • Beirut’s port has resumed operations after a horror blast that left at least 171 dead.
  • The incident sparked widespread protesting among citizens, who also accuse the government of corruption.
  • The explosion was due to nearly 3 000 tons of ammonium nitrate catching alight.
The Beirut port after the massive explosion on 4 August.
STR/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Beirut’s port has resumed partial operations to secure goods for local markets, just over a week after the massive explosion that left at least 171 people dead.

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The powerful explosion shook the Lebanese capital and its environs after 2 750 tons of ammonium nitrate stored in a warehouse caught fire.

The shockwave flattened nearby buildings, and caused extensive material damage in Beirut, leaving hundreds of thousands of people homeless.

According to Lebanon’s caretaker economy minister, the port is now operating to unload vessels for merchants.

“There are 12 cranes out of 16 operating at Beirut port,” Raoul Nehme said in a Twitter post.

“The flour stocks of the mills in Lebanon are 32,000 tonnes, in addition to 110 000 tonnes that will arrive within two weeks,” Nehme said, adding that the amount was sufficient for four months.

The attack came at a time when Lebanon was dealing with a severe financial crisis, along with the coronavirus pandemic. 

Corruption

The government, long accused of endemic corruption, resigned on Monday but will remain in a caretaker position until a new cabinet is formed.

Protesters have been calling for the wholesale removal of what they see as a corrupt ruling class they brand as responsible for the country’s woes, including an economic meltdown that has ravaged the currency, paralysed banks and sent prices soaring.

Officials have said the blast could have caused losses of $15 billion, a bill Lebanon cannot pay, given the depths of the financial crisis that has seen people frozen out of their savings accounts since October amid dollar scarcity.

President Michel Aoun has promised a swift and transparent investigation into the blast and said the probe would look into whether it was negligence, an accident or external factors.

Reports emerged that Aoun and now-resigned Prime Minister Hassan Diab were warned in July about the warehoused ammonium nitrate.

-Aljazeera