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The city authorities estimate that material damages could reach up to US$5 billion.
Lebanon’s Health Minister Hamad Hasan confirmed that the explosion in downtown Beirut on Tuesday has caused 137 deaths and over 5,000 injuries so far.
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His government, which is coordinating with Arab and European countries to ensure medical aid, continues to search for survivors among the rubble.
On Tuesday, in a warehouse in the port of Beirut, 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate generated an explosion whose magnitude smashed everything that was miles around.
Although the exact reasons for the explosion have not yet been determined, the Council of Ministers ordered house arrest against those who allowed the storage of that substance.
Major countries are promising aid to #Lebanon after the #BeirutExplosion. A reminder that we spend three times more money on ice cream than we do on humanitarian aid ($22 billion on humanitarian aid vs $59 billion on ice cream in 2013)#Beirut #Beirut_Explosion pic.twitter.com/3JaJEcz0sZ
— Diarmuid Pepper (@Diarmuid_9) August 6, 2020
The explosion generated a huge shock wave that affected thousands of homes and buildings, which forced the population to move to other places in the city to find temporary refuge.
On Thursday, Beirut’s Governor Maruan Abboud stated that over 100 people are still missing and over 200,000 people have been left homeless. The city authorities estimate that material damages could reach up to US$5 billion.
The country is in official three-day mourning, and the Lebanese capital is in a state of emergency under the supervision of the Armed Forces.
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