There are still about 40 missing in the rubble of the port of Beirut and the districts of the city affected by the devastating explosion a week ago. The outgoing Lebanese health minister Hamad Hassan said so, according to which the bodies of 171 dead have been found so far. "40 people are missing," he said.
Yesterday the authorities had spoken of an overall toll of about 220 killed and 7 thousand injured.
International press sources quoted by the Lebanese media reveal that the President of the Lebanese Republic Michel Aoun and Prime Minister Hassan Diab, the latter resigning last night, were directly informed, less than a month ago, of the presence in the port of Beirut of 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate. The explosion of which - according to the official version - devastated Beirut a week ago, killing more than 200 people.
The sources cite documents from General Security, one of the Lebanese intelligence services. According to the documents, which are part of the dossier of one of the two investigations underway in Lebanon on the August 4 disaster, the head of state Aoun and Prime Minister Diab had been informed with a private letter addressed to them on 20 July. According to security sources, cited by the media, the letter illustrated the results of an internal investigation, opened last January, which concluded that the chemicals stored at the port should be removed immediately. So far the Lebanese presidential palace and the premier's office have not commented on press information.
Meanwhile, on social media there are appeals for new peaceful rallies in the square in the center of Beirut. The slogan is "bury the government", in reference to the executive. Today is exactly one week since the devastating port explosion that killed more than 200 people and injured seven thousand others.
