BEIRUT— Lebanon reeled Monday from a deadly explosion that
burned alive people desperate to fill plastic containers with fuel in a country
sinking ever deeper into darkness and chaos.
اضافة اعلان
At least 28 people were killed when the fuel tank, which was swarmed by
residents clamoring to fill their vehicles amid crippling shortages, blew up
early on Sunday in the northern region of
Akkar.
The latest tragedy to befall Lebanon comes as the country grapples with an
economic crisis described by the World Bank as one of the world's worst since
the 1850s.
Nearly 80 people were also
injured in the blast, many of them with burns
that further overwhelmed hospitals struggling to function without electricity,
medics said.
On Monday, foreign countries and UN agencies were scrambling emergency aid
to help exhausted health workers cope with the new influx of serious injuries
and run DNA tests on the charred remains of the dead.
A health ministry official told AFP that authorities were still sorting
through bagfuls of remains to determine a final death count.
Shortages of key commodities have accelerated in recent days, leaving much
of Lebanon struggling to source fuel, gas and even bread, with buying power pummeled
by the currency losing more than 90 percent of its value on the black
market.
The country's six million inhabitants now fear the internet and drinking
water will be next to disappear.
The blast in Akkar, one of the most impoverished parts of the country, was a
deadly direct consequence of a vicious cycle fast turning Lebanon, once a
regional beacon of modernity, into a failed state.
The scenes of horror piled trauma on a country still coming to terms with
last year's cataclysmic Beirut port explosion that killed more than 200 people
and disfigured the city.
'Need to leave'
In Tripoli's Al-Salam hospital, which received the bulk of patients burned
by the Akkar blast, 23-year-old Iqaz Saqr could not hold back tears.
Her husband and a brother, a 20-year-old livestock farmer named Abdul
Rahman, were both caught in the explosion.
Abdul Rahman was left battling for his life.
"My brother was out of gasoline. He just needed a small amount so he
could go and get boxes of feed for his sheep," Iqaz told AFP.
"My husband too just wanted gasoline so he could ... provide for me and
our daughter."
Across the country, with no more than two hours a day of mains electricity
supply, many shops and restaurants remain closed, unable to source fuel for
their generators.
Many private and public sector employees have been told to stay home and
most of the rest have often been doing the same for lack of transport options.
Stuck in an endless queue of cars at a Beirut petrol station, Mohammed, who
did not want to give his full name, said he could see no light at the end of
the tunnel.
"We need to leave Lebanon. We all need to get out," said the
30-year-old engineer. "God help those who stay."
The state has declared a national day of mourning over the Akkar blast, a
move unlikely to offer much solace to a population that blamed those very
authorities for the tragedy.
'I'm scared'
Angry protesters on Sunday torched the home of the landowner on whose plot
the tragedy unfolded, accusing him of involvement in a hoarding and smuggling
scheme allegedly covered up by top officials.
Gas station owners have been accused of hoarding fuel ahead of an expected
price hike, causing crippling shortages and spawning a ruthless black market
that is enriching a small cartel and choking the rest of the country.
A few dozen people protested on Sunday in front of the Beirut home of Najib
Mikati, who was recently appointed prime minister-designate.
The country's richest man is the third person to attempt to form a
government since the aftermath of the Beirut port blast last August since when
ministers have served only in a caretaker capacity.
After meeting President Michel Aoun on Monday, Mikati said efforts were
still underway to form a new government.
The lack of a government is freezing international assistance that could
help dig Lebanon out of the abyss.
As every aspect of daily life unravels, sometimes deadly scuffles have
broken out at petrol stations and residents across the country fear for their
safety.
"I feel like crying about everything," said Farah, a 21-year
living in the mountainous Chouf region.
"I'm scared we'll get to the point where we can't leave this country,
even from the airport... We only have the sea left. I feel we'll drown trying
to get out," she said.
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