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Explosions in Beirut: in the gutted silo of the port, Tatiana hopes her father is alive

2020-08-06T18:10:20.096Z


Two days after the blasts, a team led by French Civil Security on Thursday searched for several employees who were working


A tangle of scrap metal and, in the distance, this gutted silo that contained 160,000 tonnes of grain, which has become a symbol of the double explosion that devastated Beirut on Tuesday, August 4. This is where Ghassan Hasrouty worked for almost 38 years. “Even during the civil war (Editor's note: 1975-1990 ), he was at his post, comments Tatiana, 19, the last of her four children. This site, he knows every nook and cranny. One of the reasons that make him hope that his father is still alive.

Since Tuesday, Tatiana has not ceased to alert the authorities and the media so that all means are implemented to find her father and a dozen of his colleagues, still missing. She never had any contact with any official. "But, finally, we learned that the research began on Thursday," breathes Tatiana, who wears a black T-shirt flocked with an inscription in English proclaiming that women raise mountains.

"Seven to eight people" wanted

While here and there new plumes of smoke still rise from the port ravaged by the blast of the explosions, Tatiana persists in considering a happy outcome. A hope rekindled by the presence on site of French civil security rescuers.

On her cellphone, Tatiana shows a photo of her father, the silo team leader, much appreciated by her subordinates. On the basis of what he had explained to her of the layout of the premises, the young woman describes her office, on the second floor of a quasi-bunker located at the foot of the silo, of which she says she is convinced that the thick concrete walls armed held. It is in the bowels of this building that the control room that Ghassan directed is located.

A room where the research of French rescuers is focused. "We think that there are good hopes of finding living people there, that is to say seven to eight people we are looking for," Colonel Vincent Tissier assured this Thursday, head of the 55 men who arrived from Roissy on Wednesday afternoon, accompanied specialized dogs and reconnaissance equipment, including a drone.

“He loved his job. His life was here ”

Gnawed by worry, Tatiana clings to the unwavering solidarity of her father's friends and colleagues who survived the disaster, who parade through the family home. “My father is very social,” she says. Everyone knows him. Above all, he is a courageous man who has already been through a lot. I trust him. I only hope that help can reach him before it is too late. "

VIDEO. Beirut: the explosion damage seen from the sky

Aged 58, Ghassan joined this site at the age of 20 where his own father had already made his entire career. “He loved his job. His life was here ”, summarizes Tatiana, evoking“ an ultra-secure place ”. “When we went to see him, it was not even worth hoping to return without special permission. Everything was monitored by the army or the police. One would never have imagined that such a catastrophe would occur there. "

Source: leparis

All news articles on 2020-08-06

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