Lebanon’s president Friday rejected any international probe into the catastrophic port blast, saying a missile or negligence could have been responsible as rescuers desperately combed the rubble for survivors.
The entrenched ruling class has come under fire once again since Tuesday’s explosion, which killed at least 154 people and devastated swathes of the capital.
Official negligence or foreign interference?
The revelation that a huge shipment of hazardous ammonium nitrate had languished for years in a warehouse in the heart of the capital served as shocking proof to many Lebanese of the rot at the core of their political system.
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Even Lebanese President Michel Aoun admitted Friday that the “paralysed” system needed to be “reconsidered”.
“We are facing changes and reconsidering our system, which is built on consensus, after it was seen to be paralysed and incapable of swiftly executing decisions,” Aoun told reporters.
He pledged “swift justice”, but rejected widespread calls for an international probe, telling a reporter he saw it as an attempt to “dilute the truth”.
“There are two possible scenarios for what happened: it was either negligence or foreign interference through a missile or bomb,” he said, the first time a top Lebanese official raised the possibility that the port had been attacked.
"I am waiting to hear that you have been rescued alive, my dear." Rescuers comb through the rubble of #Beirut port in a search for survivors watched breathlessly by relatives of the missing, after an investigation made its first arrests. @AFP✍️: https://t.co/GRYHits1Zh@AFPphoto pic.twitter.com/VtyAX1D5sU
— Hashem Osseiran (هاشم) (@HashemOsseiran) August 7, 2020
What ignited the massive shipment of the chemical remains unclear — officials have said work had recently begun on repairs to the warehouse, while others suspected fireworks stored either in the same place or nearby.
Near the seat of the explosion, by the carcass of the port’s giant grain silos, rescue teams from France, Russia, Germany, Italy and other countries coordinated their search efforts.
Four bodies were uncovered near the port’s control room, where a significant number of people were expected to have been working at the time of the blast.
No one has been found alive.
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“I am waiting to hear that you have been rescued alive, my dear,” tweeted Emilie Hasrouty, whose brother is among the missing.
“I am paralysed with fear.”
Lebanon in dire need of aid after port blast
At the port in Lebanon, reduced to an enormous scrapyard after the blast, excavators removed mangled shipping containers to clear a path for rescuers.
Civil defence teams anxiously watched a sniffer dog as he paced around a gap under a fallen crane.
Read more: A quick rundown on the Lebanon explosions
Beirut has received a stream of international assistance since the blast, with the president of the European Council, Charles Michel, set to visit the ravaged capital on Saturday.
International police agency Interpol on Friday said it would dispatch to Lebanon a team of experts who are specialised in identifying victims.
French President Emmanuel Macron was the first world leader to touch down in Lebanon on Thursday, where he pressed officials to enact deep reform ahead of an aid conference planned in the coming days.
Macron spoke on Friday to US President Donald Trump, with the White House saying they would work “with international partners to provide immediate aid to the Lebanese people”.
At least 4 large hospitals in Beirut were so severely damaged by the explosion that they were unable to admit patients. Health care workers were injured and killed, and a warehouse storing much of Lebanon’s vaccine supply was believed to have been razed. https://t.co/9zObdCnV8D
— The New York Times (@nytimes) August 5, 2020
The World Food Programme promised food to affected families and wheat imports to replace lost stocks from the port’s disembowelled silos.
The World Health Organization, meanwhile, called for $15 million to cover immediate health needs.
Lebanon’s hospitals, already strained by rising coronavirus cases and a severe economic crisis, were heavily damaged by the blast and overwhelmed by casualties.
Relief flights from Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates landed in Lebanon on Friday, following others from France, Kuwait, Qatar and Russia.
Read more: Beirut explosions latest blow to a Lebanon plagued by regional conflicts
Two days after the blast, Lebanese were flocking to a 20-tent Russian field hospital newly established in the capital’s largest sport stadium.
The United Nations said up to 100,000 children are among the 300,000 people made homeless, including many who have been separated from their families.
Hezbollah denies Beirut port involvement
With destruction from the blast engulfing half of the capital and estimated to cost more than $3 billion, world leaders, advocacy groups and Lebanese have demanded an international probe to ensure impartiality.
But Lebanon’s powerful Hezbollah movement said Friday the army should lead such a probe because it was “trusted” by all.
Read more: Lebanon blast: Is Hezbollah’s influence to blame?
Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah denied accusations the Shiite party had been storing arms at the port, saying: “We have nothing in the port.”
Lebanon’s probe has so far led to 21 arrests, including the port’s general manager Hassan Koraytem, other customs officials and port engineers, a judicial source told.
Dozens more were being interrogated by Lebanon’s military court, which is focusing on administrative and security officials at the port as well as government authorities who may have ignored warnings about explosive materials.
“The list of arrests will reach the top guys, who are now among the suspects,” the source said.
Lebanon’s central bank also ordered asset freezes for seven port and customs officials, an official and a banking source told.
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The measures did not dampen the anger in Beirut’s streets, where dozens of demonstrators scuffled with security forces firing tear gas late Thursday.
And volunteers clearing debris have chased out two government ministers who tried to visit devastated neighbourhoods with furious chants of “resign”.
An anti-government protest is planned for Saturday afternoon under the slogan, “Hang them by the gallows”.
AFP with additional input by GVS News Desk