Huge blaze at Beirut port

Shafaq news/ a large fire erupted at Beirut port on Thursday, engulfing parts of the Lebanese capital in a pall of smoke weeks after a massive blast devastated the port and surrounding residential area.

The blaze began in the shattered duty free zone of the port, prompting some residents to flee the city still traumatized by last month’s explosion which followed a port fire.

Army helicopters dropped water on the fire, as firefighters battled the blaze on the ground.

There were no immediate reports of injuries but the blaze strained nerves already on edge in a nation grappling with a deep economic crisis that has posed the biggest threat to Lebanon’s stability.

A military source said it appeared to have started when cooking oil caught fire and spread to stores of tires. At one point, live television footage had shown flames licking up near a pile of tires in a warehouse ruined by last month’s explosion.        

The head of Lebanon’s Red Cross, George Kettaneh, said there was no fear of another explosion as a result of Thursday’s fire and there were no injuries, although he said there were some people suffering from shortness of breath.

The public prosecutor ordered an immediate investigation. Many Lebanese are frustrated that they have not been told about any initial findings from an investigation into the port blast, more than a month after it ripped through Beirut.

Firefighters were shown in television footage dousing the port fire surrounded by mangled remains of warehouses destroyed in last month’s explosion, which was caused by a store of ammonium nitrate that had been kept in poor condition at the port for years.

In the same context, The Lebanese President, Michel Aoun, called the Supreme Defense Council to convene at 7 p.m. Thursday, to discuss the issue of the port fire.

The Information Office at the Ministry of Justice announced that, “Immediately after the fire broke out in the port this afternoon, the Minister of Justice in the caretaker government, Marie Claude Najm, requested the Judge Ghassan Oweidat, to conduct an immediate investigation and direct follow-up and move to the port to conduct the necessary evacuation.

The Public Prosecutor at the Court of Cassation, Judge Ghassan Oweidat, issued a decision stating, “We decide to file memoranda with all the security services, including the Army Intelligence, Public Security, State Security, Information Division, Customs, Civil Defense and the Beirut Fire Brigade to conduct the necessary investigations to find out the causes of the fire occurring in Beirut Port on this day.”

It’s noteworthy that The Aug. 4 blast killed 191 people and injured more than 7500.