BEIRUT — Parts of
Beirut’s grain silos
collapsed on Sunday, just days before the second anniversary of a catastrophic
explosion at the Lebanese capital’s port that ravaged the stores and parts of
the city.
اضافة اعلان
AFP correspondents said a cloud of dust covered
Beirut’s port, while local media reported that two towers fell in the heavily
damaged silos’ northern section, where a fire has been burning for more than
two weeks.
Footage of the incident showed part of the silo
crumbling and a large cloud billowing up after debris hit the ground.
The structure had absorbed much of the impact of the
devastating explosion on August 4, 2020 at
Beirut’s port that killed more than
200 people and injured more than 6,500.
The silos shielded large swaths of the city’s west
from the devastating effects of the blast, which was caused by haphazardly
stored ammonium nitrate fertilizer catching fire.
Sunday’s partial collapse came around two weeks
after a fire erupted in the port’s northern silos due to the fermentation of
remaining grain stocks along with soaring summer temperatures, according to
authorities.
Lebanon’s caretaker prime minister this week warned
they could fall.
“The northern group of silos are now in danger of
falling,”
Najib Mikati said Wednesday in a statement, which added that the
silos still contained thousands of tonnes of wheat and corn.
He told the army to be prepared, and warned workers,
civil defense members and firefighters to keep a safe distance from the site.
Once boasting a capacity of more than 100,000
tonnes, an imposing 48m high remnant of the silos has become emblematic of the
catastrophic port blast.
The government in April ordered their demolition due
to safety concerns, but that move was suspended amid objections, including from
relatives of blast victims who want the silos preserved as a memorial site.
The Lebanese investigation into the blast has faced
systematic and blatant political obstruction from day one.
Authorities were unable to unload around 3,000
tonnes of wheat and corn stuck in the silos because doing so might accelerate
their collapse, this week’s statement said.
The environment and health ministries advised the
public to evacuate the port area and use masks in the vicinity of the silos in
case they collapsed.
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