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| Beirut explosion: death toll rises to 137 as army takes control of site | Beirut explosion: death toll rises to 137 as army takes control of site |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| Volunteers help clean up damaged streets as officials begin blame game over ammonium nitrate storage | Volunteers help clean up damaged streets as officials begin blame game over ammonium nitrate storage |
| The death toll from a massive blast at Beirut’s port has risen again to 137, as the Lebanese army took control of the site on the first day of a two-week state of emergency. | The death toll from a massive blast at Beirut’s port has risen again to 137, as the Lebanese army took control of the site on the first day of a two-week state of emergency. |
| The new casualty figures on Thursday morning include at least 5,000 injured and a health ministry spokesman said dozens were still missing. “This toll is not final,” he said. | The new casualty figures on Thursday morning include at least 5,000 injured and a health ministry spokesman said dozens were still missing. “This toll is not final,” he said. |
| As volunteers worked with the army to clean up damaged streets, buildings and hospitals, the government said it had formed an investigation committee to look into the explosion, which appears to have been set off by 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate t stored at the port since 2014. | As volunteers worked with the army to clean up damaged streets, buildings and hospitals, the government said it had formed an investigation committee to look into the explosion, which appears to have been set off by 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate t stored at the port since 2014. |
| Lebanese officials have started blaming each other for leaving the highly explosive substance sitting so close to residential neighbourhoods for six years. The ammonium nitrate was taken from a ship that docked in Beirut in 2013 and was apparently abandoned by its Russian owner and mostly Ukrainian crew. | Lebanese officials have started blaming each other for leaving the highly explosive substance sitting so close to residential neighbourhoods for six years. The ammonium nitrate was taken from a ship that docked in Beirut in 2013 and was apparently abandoned by its Russian owner and mostly Ukrainian crew. |
| Badri Daher, the director general of Lebanese customs, said on Wednesday his office had sent six letters to the country’s judiciary urging them to deal with the chemicals either by exporting the load, reselling it or giving it to the army. | Badri Daher, the director general of Lebanese customs, said on Wednesday his office had sent six letters to the country’s judiciary urging them to deal with the chemicals either by exporting the load, reselling it or giving it to the army. |
| An unspecified number of port officials have been ordered to be placed under house arrest pending the investigation, which is scheduled to take five days. It will report to the national cabinet, which will refer its findings to the judiciary. | An unspecified number of port officials have been ordered to be placed under house arrest pending the investigation, which is scheduled to take five days. It will report to the national cabinet, which will refer its findings to the judiciary. |
| Amnesty International was among the organisations calling for an independent investigation into the circumstances leading up to the explosion. | Amnesty International was among the organisations calling for an independent investigation into the circumstances leading up to the explosion. |
| “Whatever may have caused the explosion, including the possibility of a large amount of ammonium nitrate stored unsafely, Amnesty is calling for an international mechanism to be promptly set up to investigate how this happened,” said Julie Verhaar, the group’s acting secretary general. | “Whatever may have caused the explosion, including the possibility of a large amount of ammonium nitrate stored unsafely, Amnesty is calling for an international mechanism to be promptly set up to investigate how this happened,” said Julie Verhaar, the group’s acting secretary general. |
| Protests have been planned for central Beirut on Thursday afternoon as residents of the capital seethed at a disaster that appears to have been foreseeable and frequently warned about. | Protests have been planned for central Beirut on Thursday afternoon as residents of the capital seethed at a disaster that appears to have been foreseeable and frequently warned about. |
| On one shattered balcony, someone had put up a thin noose along with a sign a reading: “Whose heads will be hung?” Lebanese social media was trending with the hashtag “Hang up the nooses”, as rage threatened to boil over in the grief-stricken city. | On one shattered balcony, someone had put up a thin noose along with a sign a reading: “Whose heads will be hung?” Lebanese social media was trending with the hashtag “Hang up the nooses”, as rage threatened to boil over in the grief-stricken city. |
| The French president, Emmanuel Macron, arrived in Beirut on Thursday, becoming the first world leader to visit since the disaster. He is pressing for changes to the political system – a major hurdle to receiving billions of dollars of aid to alleviate one of the worst financial crises in modern Lebanese history. | |
| Upon arrival Macron said the visit was “an opportunity to have a frank and challenging dialogue with the Lebanese political powers and institutions”. He said France would work to coordinate international aid but warned that “if reforms are not made, Lebanon will continue to sink”. | |
| Later, as he toured one of the hardest-hit neighbourhoods, an angry crowd vented its fury at Lebanon’s political leaders, chanting “Revolution” and “The people want to bring down the regime” – slogans used during mass protests last year. | |
| Macron said he was not there to endorse the “regime” and vowed that French aid would not fall into the “hands of corruption.” | |
| French aircraft were among several, including others from Turkey, Germany, Gulf countries and the World Food Programme, to land in Beirut since Tuesday, bringing rescuers, medical supplies and equipment. | French aircraft were among several, including others from Turkey, Germany, Gulf countries and the World Food Programme, to land in Beirut since Tuesday, bringing rescuers, medical supplies and equipment. |
| The explosion on Tuesday echoed another blast 15 years ago in which the former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri was killed by a car bomb not far from the port. An international court trying four men accused of Hariri’s assassination and of killing 21 others with him was supposed to give its long-awaited verdict on Friday. | The explosion on Tuesday echoed another blast 15 years ago in which the former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri was killed by a car bomb not far from the port. An international court trying four men accused of Hariri’s assassination and of killing 21 others with him was supposed to give its long-awaited verdict on Friday. |
| But the court outside The Hague said it was delaying the announcement “out of respect for the countless victims of the devastating explosion that shook Beirut on 4 August, and the three days of public mourning in Lebanon”, its registry said in a statement. | But the court outside The Hague said it was delaying the announcement “out of respect for the countless victims of the devastating explosion that shook Beirut on 4 August, and the three days of public mourning in Lebanon”, its registry said in a statement. |