Over 100 people have died and 4,000 people were injured as search and rescue efforts continued on Wednesday after a massive explosion at a warehouse at Beirut’s port shook Lebanon’s capital on Tuesday.
The death toll is expected to rise as dozens of people are still missing in rubble throughout the city.
Multiple videos from the area showed a plume of smoke rising near the coastline and then a large blast and shock wave which shattered windows and damaged buildings and vehicles throughout the capital.
Video and pictures from the scene showed windows blown out and debris strewn in buildings and streets throughout Lebanon’s capital. Some buildings in the area collapsed and emergency forces rushed to rescue those trapped in the rubble. Electrical outages were reported throughout the capital hampering search and rescue efforts.
“What we are witnessing is a huge catastrophe,” the head of Lebanon’s Red Cross George Kettani told broadcaster Al-Mayadeen. “There are victims and casualties everywhere – in all the streets and areas near and far from the explosion.”
Hospitals in the capital were overwhelmed with the injured and began treating people in hallways and transferring other wounded people outside of Beirut. Injuries, damage and deaths were reported on streets and in buildings throughout Beirut.
Lebanese Prime Minister Hassan Diab announced three days of national mourning starting Wednesday for the victims of the explosion. Beirut was declared a disaster city and state of emergency was declared for two weeks. Diab stated that he “would not rest” until the person responsible for the disaster was found and held accountable.
The exact cause of the explosion remained uncertain as of Tuesday night, but Lebanon’s Supreme Council of Defense stated that over 2,700 tons of ammonium nitrate were stored for six years at the warehouse where the explosion occurred, calling this “unacceptable.” Multiple reports were issued in recent years urging for a solution to be found concerning the stored chemicals.
The Supreme Council of Defense set a maximum of five days to investigate the cause of the explosion.
Lebanese officials called for an international investigation into the incident, saying that they were concerned that local investigation committees would be unreliable and politicized.
An unofficial security apparatus controls the port, said Lebanese MP Ziad Al-Hawat to MTV Lebanon, stressing that the incident was “not a coincidence.” Fox News reported that much of the port’s operations are unofficially controlled by Hezbollah.
A number of countries offered humanitarian aid after the explosion, including Cyprus, Iran, the US, Iraq, Qatar and France.
Following the explosion, Defense Minister Benny Gantz and Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi conveyed via diplomatic and security channels Israel’s offer to provide humanitarian relief and medical support to the Lebanese people.
Israeli defense officials denied that Israel was connected to the explosion, which came as the IDF was on high alert along the northern border in anticipation of a Hezbollah attack.
Additionally, Ziv Medical Center announced that it is “experienced and prepared” to assist in any way possible.
A source from UNIFIL told KAN news on Wednesday that Israel’s aid offer had been received by Lebanon and that a formal answer by the Lebanese government had not been given yet.
“We share the pain of the Lebanese people and sincerely reach out to offer our aid at this difficult time,” President Reuven Rivlin tweeted on Tuesday night.
The IDF remained on high alert in the North on Wednesday as part of continued preparations for a possible revenge attack by Hezbollah for the death of one of its operatives in an alleged Israeli airstrike in Damascus two weeks ago. Two security incidents have occurred along Israel’s northern border since the airstrike, at least one of which involved Hezbollah terrorists.
Likud MK Moshe Feiglin celebrated the explosion on Wednesday, saying that the explosion was received in honor of “the holiday of love” (Tu B’Av).
“You don’t really believe that this was some messy gas warehouse, yeah? Do you understand that this hell was supposed to fall on us as a rain of missiles?!” wrote Feiglin on Facebook.
Feiglin compared the explosion to a nuclear bomb, saying that it looked similar to a mushroom cloud. “I have been warning for years that the withdrawal from Lebanon and the new strategic balance against Hezbollah, inserted Israel into a balance of terror that is equivalent to a nuclear bomb by the terrorist organization on our northern border.”
“Today is Tu B’Av, a day of joy, and a true and huge thank you to G-d and all the geniuses and heroes really (!) who organized for us this wonderful celebration in honor of the day of love,” wrote Feiglin.
Sources from Hezbollah told OTV Lebanon on Tuesday that there was “no truth” to rumors that the explosion was caused by an Israeli strike on Hezbollah weapons at the port. Hezbollah operatives were seen at the port after the explosion, according to Al-Arabiya. Al-Arabiya claimed on Tuesday that the explosion occurred at a weapons depot belonging to Hezbollah.
The Iranian Mehr News Agency claimed that US sabotage may have had a role in the explosion, based on radar images of US Navy aircraft in the area.
When asked about his depiction of the explosion at a White House briefing, US President Donald Trump said that he had met with some US generals who feel the blast was not “some kind of a manufacturing explosion type of event.” He told reporters that according to these unnamed generals “they seem to think it was an attack. It was a bomb of some kind.”
Lebanese officials have stressed that the investigation into the incident is ongoing and the exact cause of the explosion is unclear.
Reuters contributed to this report.
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