Beirut looks for survivors, answers – Times of India

People of the Lebanese community hold a giant Lebanese flag during a vigil in memory of victims of the deadly …Read More

Rescue workers still struggling to treat thousands of people wounded in an enormous explosion that rocked Beirut turned their attention on Wednesday to the desperate search for survivors. The blast levelled whole sections of the city near the port of Beirut, leaving nothing but twisted metal and debris for severalblocks.
The death toll rose to more than 135, but with an untold number still missing, officials expected that figure to rise. More than 5,000 people were injured, overwhelming the city’s hospitals. Beirut governor Marwan Abboud described the disaster as “an apocalyptic situation” that has made an estimated 3,00,000 people temporarily homeless and would cost the nation in excess of $3 billion.
The explosion was the most powerful ever to rip through Beirut, a city still scarred by civil war and reeling from an economic meltdown. Officials said it appeared that the blast had been caused by the detonation of 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate, a chemical used in fertiliser and bombs, which had been stored in a warehouse at the port since it was confiscated from a cargo ship in 2014.
President Michel Aoun said the government was “determined to investigate and expose what happened as soon as possible, to hold the responsible and the negligent accountable”.
An official source familiar with preliminary investigations blamed the incident on “inaction and negligence”, saying “nothing was done” for the removal of hazardous material.
Offers of international support poured in. Gulf Arab states, the US, Britain, Germany, France and other Western nations offered help. Even Israel, officially in a state of war with Lebanon, offered assistance.
Meanwhile, a UN-backed tribunal postponed its Friday ruling in trial over the 2005 bombing that killed ex-PM Rafik al-Hariri to August 18.
(With input from agencies)