Hundreds of protesters took to the streets of Beirut this Friday, to protest the management of the country’s rulers, after the massive explosion of a warehouse in the port area that occurred on Tuesday, citizens tried to break into the parliamentary building, located in the Beirutí de Nejme Square, demanding the resignation of the Government. A larger rally is planned for today.
The large-scale explosion in Beirut reopened the protests in the Mediterranean country – so far 5,000 injuries and 137 deaths have been confirmed – this due to the 2,700 tons of ammonium nitrate that were stored for six years under the knowledge of the authorities. According to local media, the protesters had thrown stones at the security agents who tried to contain the crowd.
Indignation grows among Beirutis, on Friday two ministers visited the disaster area and were booed, shouts saying «Prepare the gallows» can be heard from the crowd.
The president of Lebanon, Michel Aoun, rejected this Friday international intervention to investigate the causes of the fatal event, a measure proposed by Emmanuel Macron during his visit to Beirut; the Lebanese president for the first time spoke about the hypothesis of an attack, «It is possible that this was caused by negligence or by external action, with a missile or a bomb.» He also confessed that he knew of the existence of the highly explosive product in the port warehouses since July 20.
In response to Aoun, the Lebanese terrorist group Hezbollah denied having a warehouse with weapons in the city’s port, as had been speculated in local media and through public opinion.
Meanwhile, the city that has been left as a war zone is in the eyes of the world, international political leaders have sent humanitarian aid. For its part, the government declared a state of emergency for Beirut, also reported that some 56 million euros will be allocated for an investigative commission that will take 5 days to discover the causes of the massive explosion.