Port of Beirut: a new part of the silos collapses

The entire northern part of the grain silos damaged by the devastating explosion at the port of Beirut in 2020 collapsed on Tuesday, according to AFP correspondents on the spot.

A cloud of smoke formed after the collapse of eight towers of the structure damaged by the blast of the explosion of August 4, 2020 which left more than 200 dead and 6,500 injured and devastated entire neighborhoods of the Lebanese capital.

The explosion was triggered in a warehouse housing hundreds of tons of ammonium nitrate stored without precaution.

And it has been blamed by much of the population on the corruption and negligence of the ruling class.

The towers that collapsed on Tuesday were the last in the northern block of silos.

The “stable” southern block

For now, the southern block is stable, according to French civil engineer Emmanuel Durand, who has installed sensors inside the silos.

On July 31 and August 4, other towers collapsed after a fire broke out in early July in the most damaged part of the silos, caused according to authorities and experts by the fermentation of stocks of remaining cereals, combined with high temperatures.

Since then, several towers have remained in flames.

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The fire rekindled the trauma of relatives of victims of the explosion of August 4, 2020. Hit hard by the blast of the detonation, the grain silos of the port, which had absorbed part of the shock, had partially collapsed. collapsed.

Political obstruction

Public Works and Transport Minister Ali Hamie had said that 25,000 square meters of the capital's port would be devoted to the construction of new silos, adding that funding would come from international donors and his ministry.

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In April, the authorities had ordered the demolition of the silos, but the decision was suspended due to the opposition of the relatives of the victims of the tragedy who want to make it a place of memory.

The investigation into the causes of the tragedy has been suspended for months due to political obstruction by the authorities.