Lebanon explosion: Thousands injured across capital Beirut
Lebanon's Economy Minister Raoul Nehme said :
"No one can know the numbers right now. One billion [dollars], two billion, three, five, ten – we can’t know. It’s too soon. But it’s very high and more than our capacity,”
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| Image source: instagram |
Beirut explosion rocks Lebanon's capital city. Lebanon authorities declare Beirut a "disaster city" and impose state of emergency.
Ammonium nitrate being stored in a warehouse at the port is likely to have caused the blast.
What is Ammonium Nitrate?
Ammonium nitrate has a number of different types of uses, but the two most common types are as an agricultural fertiliser and as an explosive.
Ammonium nitrate is highly explosive when it comes into contact with fire - and when it explodes, ammonium nitrate can release toxic gases including nitrogen oxides and ammonia gas which is also very bad for the environment.
Image source: instagram
A huge explosion was reported in Beirut, the capital city of Lebanon on Tuesday, ahead of a court verdict in the trial connected with the killing of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. The videos showed a large mushroom cloud over the city Beirut.
Massive Beirut blast kills more than 70 more than 2,500 people have been injured. The toll and number of injuries are likely to rise.
The cause of the blast is not yet clear, according to Al Jazeera. Reports have said the explosion was near the city’s port area. There was a speculation about a second explosion as well but more details are still awaited. According to BBC the second explosion might have been at the Hariri residence in the city, .
Health Minister Hamad Hassan said that hundreds have been injured, according to Al Jazeera However, no official figures of injuries or casualties have been reported yet.
Videos reportedly showed that how people of the city trapped under the rubble as fire services personnel conducted rescue operations in that time.
The windows of all the buildings of the city were shattered by the impact of the explosion, and many buildings were damaged.
'Glass going down from all over the building'
Hadi Nasrallah, eyewitness speaking to the BBC.
Al Jazeera news channel reporter Zeina Khodr reported about the “chaos in the streets”. “I was just kilometres away from the place, the glasses of the buildings broke everywhere around me,”
The buildings which are far away from the explosion spot as 10 km were damaged already, reported CNN. This included former Prime Minister Saad Hariri’s headquarters.
A tribunal of the United Nations is expected to give its verdict in the case of Hariri’s death in 2005, which involves four suspects.
Lebanon’s health minister has given an instruction to all the hospitals around the city to be prepared to treat the injured. However, AFP said that hospitals are already filleu up in Beirut and were turning away people “with blood streaming down their faces because they’re too full or damaged to take them in”.
As of Beirut explosion blew up wheat port and grain silos in 'city of hungry children'.
US President Donald Trump said about the blast that the huge explosion that shook Beirut appeared to be a "terrible attack."
"America always have a very good relationship with the people of Lebanon and we will be there to help them at anytime." Trump told reporters at the White House.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has offers condolences to Lebanese President Michel Aoun over numerous human casualties and large-scale damages
The incident came as an amid political turmoil in Lebanon, where there have been protests against the government’s management of the worst economic crisis since the 1975-1990 civil war. There have also been reports of tension in the border area with Israel already, according to BBC.
* Beirut explosion: Lebanon declares two-week state of emergency in capital already.
*Major Updates :
The President of Lebanon Michael Aoun had toured the collapsed site where the titanic explosion already ripped through Beirut's port and all the other areas of Beirut port.
He said 2750 tones of ammonium nitrate used in fertilizers and bombs, had been stored for six years at the port without safety measures. He then called it unacceptable.
The explosion was the most powerful till date ever to rip through in Beirut. The huge blast leaving fully the port district a wreck of mangled masonry. By disabling the main entry point for imports to feed the nation which is more then 6 million people.
Lebanese rescue workers dug through on wednesday looking for survivers. The blast has killed at least 100 people and injured nearly 4000 people.
The officials has said that the toll was expected to rise in a city still reeling from civil war three decades ago and reeling from an economic meltdown and a surge in novel coronavirus infections.
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