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More than a month after the devastating explosion in Beirut, another fire broke out in the port of the Lebanese capital. Live footage from Lebanese television showed flames and thick clouds of black smoke on Thursday. A civil defense spokesman told the German press agency that a container had caught fire. It is not clear what it means.
A Civil Defense spokesman told the German press agency that a warehouse with oil and tires caught fire in the free port. The cause of the fire was initially unclear. Initially, there was no information on possible victims either. Eyewitnesses reported that many people left their neighborhoods near the port. The military is also asking residents to evacuate, “The Daily Star” reports.
The fire brigade was on duty. The army used helicopters that dropped water from the air over the fire site. The army asked people to leave the surrounding neighborhoods. Eyewitnesses said nearby people fled in panic. A video on social media showed workers leaving the port.
More than 190 people died and more than 6,000 were injured in the August 4 disaster. Much of the port and its surroundings were completely destroyed. The explosion is said to have been triggered by large amounts of the highly explosive chemical ammonium nitrate that had been stored in the port for years.
Rescue workers expected survivors
Last week, rescue teams were hoping to find more survivors in the rubble. But after three days of hope and fear, it was clear: it’s no wonder in Beirut.
Under the rubble of a collapsed house “from a technical point of view” there are no more signs of life, said the head of the Chilean rescue team “Topos” (“Moles”), Francisco Lermanda, to reporters Saturday night in the Lebanese capital. Rescue teams climbed into the building through a tunnel. It could be ruled out that someone was there.
The frantic search for someone buried began last Thursday, almost a month after the devastating explosion at the port. Chilean rescuers discovered signs of a survivor with tracking devices and his search dog “Flash.” Among other things, they were able to distinguish faint breathing signals several times under the rubble.
In recent days, many Lebanese have celebrated the savior and the search dog as heroes and at the same time criticized their own government for not searching the site sooner. The debris had to be removed immediately after the blast because the building was badly damaged, said the engineer Assad involved. “The strange thing about all this is that we needed a dog to clean up the rubble. We did not do anything. The dog made fun of the whole system. “(SDA)
