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A section of Beirut’s grain silos collapsed on Thursday, the same day that Lebanon marked the second anniversary of a deadly explosion at the port of Beirut that devastated the city and destroyed the same grain silos; Nationala UAE-based newspaper reported.
“A square silo damaged in the Beirut port explosion collapsed on Thursday National reported on August 4.
“The collapse happened as people gathered nearby to mark the anniversary of the explosion,” according to the newspaper.
An accidentally stored cargo of ammonium nitrate, commonly used in fertilizers, ignited on August 4, 2020, in the port of Beirut, causing a mass burn. Beirut’s nearby grain silos took much of the impact of the blast and helped shield the western area of the city from the blast.
The grain silos suffered significant damage during the incident and were thus in a weakened state when a fire broke out at the facility around July 8 due to high summer temperatures. The flame developed “after the flames reached nearby power lines,” according to the Lebanese government. The fire continued until July 31, when “two towers fell in the heavily damaged northern part of the silos,” reports Agence France-Presse. mentionted. The same fire was reportedly strong at the Beirut grain silo facility on August 4, when it caused an additional section of stores to collapse.
A burning ship is pictured in the port of Beirut after a massive explosion hit the heart of the Lebanese capital on August 4, 2020. (Photo -/AFP via Getty Images)
“The north block of silos, made up of four towers, tilted slowly for days before collapsing, causing a huge cloud of dust,” Associated Press (AP). mentiontednoting that Thursday’s collapse affected about 25 percent of grain storage.
“Authorities had evacuated parts of the port earlier this week – after an initial section of silos collapsed on Sunday [July 31] — as a precaution and there was no indication that anyone was injured,” according to the AP.
The explosion at Beirut port on August 4, 2020, killed nearly 220 people and injured more than 6,000 others. The explosion destroyed large areas of Beirut, an ancient Mediterranean port and the national capital of Lebanon, causing billions of dollars in damage. Lebanon had struggled economically immediately before the explosion and was thus ill-equipped to deal with the disaster. The combustion impoverished much of Beirut’s food supply when the city’s grain silos collapsed, jeopardizing tons of corn and wheat that Lebanon could not afford to replace.
The Lebanese government led an official investigation into the cause of the incident, although the investigation has been stalled repeatedly over the past 24 months.
“Lebanese government officials – including President Michel Aoun and then-Prime Minister Hassan Diab – had prior knowledge of the explosive material being stored in an unsafe manner at the port, but failed to do anything about it. National mentionted on June 16.
The paper referred to the carelessly stored ammonium nitrate in the port of Beirut, which had reportedly been sitting in the port for years.
“[M]”Many Lebanese authorities were, at the very least, criminally negligent under Lebanese law in handling cargo, creating an unreasonable risk to life,” Human Rights Watch said. is determined in August 2021 citing data available at the time.
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