Lebanon explosions

The Lebanese judge leading an investigation into last year's devastating Beirut port blast was forced to suspend his work Tuesday after what human rights groups condemned as an attempt by politicians to evade justice.

It is the second time that judge Tarek Bitar has had to suspend the probe in the face of lawsuits filed by former ministers he had summoned on suspicion of negligence, and it comes amid growing calls from top officials, including Hezbollah chief Hasan Nasrallah, for him to be replaced.

Bitar's predecessor, Fadi Sawan, was forced to suspend his probe for the same reason before he was finally removed in February in a move widely condemned as political interference. — AFP/Rouba El Husseini

UN human rights experts on Thursday demanded a swift, independent investigation into the catastrophic Beirut explosion, citing deep concern about irresponsibility and impunity in Lebanon.

The group also called for a relatively-rare special debate at the United Nations Human Rights Council this September.

UN experts do not speak for the United Nations but report their findings to it. — AFP

The massive blast at Beirut port on August 4 caused more than $15 billion in damages, Lebanese President Michel Aoun says.

"Preliminary estimates of the losses suffered following the port explosion top 15 billion dollars," he was quoted as telling Spain's King Felipe in a phone call, in a message on the presidency's Twitter account. — AFP

The death toll from Beirut's massive August 4 explosion has climbed to 171, a health ministry spokesman told AFP on Tuesday.

The new figure, up from 160, came exactly one week since the mega-blast ravaged swathes of the Lebanese capital, wounding more than 6,000 and temporarily displacing 300,000 people from their homes. — AFP

Lebanon's premier Hassan Diab stepped down Monday amid fury within and outside his government over the deadly Beirut port blast he blamed on the incompetence and corruption of a decades-old ruling class.

"Today we are heeding the people and their demands to hold accountable those responsible for a disaster that has been concealed for seven years" he said in a televised address, blaming a "corrupt" political elite for the August 4 explosion.

"This is why today I announce the resignation of the government." — AFP

Five more Filipinos have been reported injured in the twin explosions in Beirut last week, bringing the total of injured Filipinos to 47, the Department of Foreign Affairs reports.

"We are still thankful that the injuries sustained by our kababayans are not life-threatening. We also thank our Embassy personnel for taking prompt action," Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Sarah Arriola says.

The DFA said it is preparing to repatriate the remains of the four Filipinos who died from the blasts, along with some 400 overseas Filipino workers who want to come home to the Philippines.

Lebanon's environment minister stepped down on Sunday, the second cabinet member to quit over a deadly Beirut blast that unleashed public rage against a ruling class seen as being to blame.

"In light of the enormous catastrophe... I have decided to hand in my resignation from government," Damianos Kattar announced in a statement, saying he had lost hope in a "sterile regime that botched several opportunities." — AFP

World donors on Sunday pledged more than 250 million euros to aid Lebanon after massive explosions devastated the capital Beirut last week, France said.

The total figure of "emergency aid pledged or that can be mobilised quickly" amounts to 252.7 million euros $298 millon), including 30 million euros from France, President Emmanuel Macron's office said. — AFP

Lebanese protesters enraged by a deadly explosion they blame on government negligence clashed for the second evening running with security forces in Beirut Sunday.

Police fired tear gas in an attempt to disperse protesters hurling stones and shooting fireworks near an access street to parliament, AFP correspondents reported. — AFP

Donor countries on Sunday pledge to muster "major resources" to help Lebanondeal with the aftermath of the deadly Beirut port blast, saying assistance will be "directly delivered to the Lebanese population".

In a joint statement issued after a remote donor conference hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron and the UN and attended by US President Donald Trump, they also offered support for an "impartial, credible and independent inquiry" into the August 4 disaster. — AFP

The huge chemical explosion that hit Beirut's port, devastating large parts of the Lebanese capital and claiming over 150 lives, left a 43-meter (141-foot) deep crater, a security official said Sunday.

The blast Tuesday, which was felt across the county and as far as the island of Cyprus, was recorded by the sensors of the American Institute of Geophysics (USGS) as having the power of a magnitude 3.3 earthquake.

It was triggered by a fire in a port warehouse, where a huge shipment of hazardous ammonium nitrate, a chemical that can be used as a fertilizer or as an explosive, had languished for years, according to authorities.

The huge blast also wounded at least 6,000 people and displaced more than 300,000 from their destroyed or damaged homes. — AFP

The Philippine Embassy in Lebanon reports that the number of injured Filipinos from the twin blasts in Beirut has risen to 31. The embassy also confirmed that the number of deaths is now four.

"We are saddened by the latest turn of developments. The higher figure comes as our Embassy personnel work to ascertain the condition of the Filipinos in its jurisdiction," DFA Undersecretary Sarah Arriola says.

Lebanese security forces late Thursday fired tear gas to disperse dozens of anti-government demonstrators angered by a cataclysmic blast widely seen as the most shocking expression yet of their government's incompetence.

The scuffles in central Beirut took place in a ravaged street leading to parliament, the wreckage from Tuesday's explosion still littering the entire area.

Protesters had sparked a blaze, vandalised stores and lobbed stones at security forces, according to the state-run National News Agency. — AFP

Twelve Filipinos are missing, in addition to the two deaths and eight injuries, after the twin blasts in Beirut, Lebanon, the Department of Foreign Affairs reports.

Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Sara Arriola says 11 of the missing Filipinos are seafarers who jumped from their ship, which was 400 meters away from the explosion zone.

The other missing Filipino is a household service worker who is reported to also have been injured.

A huge blast at Beirut port that devastated entire neighbourhoods of the city has killed more than 100 people and injured over 4,000, the Lebanese Red Cross says Wednesday.

"Until now over 4,000 people have been injured and over 100 have lost their lives. Our teams are still conducting search and rescue operations in the surrounding areas," a statement says. — AFP

Two Filipinos have been reported killed while six others were injured in the explosions at Beirut, Lebanon, the Department of Foreign Affairs confirms.

Latest report from the DFA stated that the Filipinos who were killed and injured were in their employer's homes when the explosion happened.

The Department of Foreign Affairs says the Philippine Embassy is in touch with the Filipino community in Lebanon to assess the situation following a powerful explosion in Beirut.

"So far, no Filipinos have been reported injured or killed by the explosion," Foreign Affairs Assistant Secretary Ed Meñez tells reporters Tuesday morning. 

US President Donald Trump saysy powerful explosions that rocked Lebanese capital Beirut appeared to be a "terrible attack." 

"We have a very good relationship with the people of Lebanon and we will be there to help. It looks like a terrible attack," Trump tells reporters at the White House.

Two enormous explosions rocked Beirut's port on Tuesday, killing at least 73 people and wounding thousands.

The cause was not immediately clear but a top official, General Security chief Abbas Ibrahim, said confiscated explosive materials had been stored at the city's port. — AFP

About 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate were stored in the Beirut port warehouse that exploded Tuesday, devastating large parts of the Lebanese capital, Prime Minister Hassan Diab said.

"It is unacceptable that a shipment of 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate has been present for six years in a warehouse, without taking preventive measures," he said at a defence council meeting, a spokesman told a press conference. 

"It is unacceptable and we cannot remain silent on this issue."  — AFP

Two huge explosions in Beirut's port on Tuesday damaged a ship deployed with a United Nations peacekeeping force and injured some of its personnel, the UNIFIL force said in a statement.

"As a result of a huge explosion that rocked Beirut Port this evening, one of the UNIFIL ships of the Maritime Task Force docked in the port was damaged, leaving some UNIFIL naval peacekeepers injured– some of them seriously," it said. — AFP

President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday called his Lebanese counterpart Michel Aoun and announced the dispatch of French aid to Lebanon after the powerful explosions in Beirut.

"He expressed his support and that of France for the Lebanese people," said the Elysee, the presidential palace. 

"French aid and resources are on the way," the Elysee said, without elaborating. — AFP

Lebanon's Prime Minister Hassan Diab Tuesday urged "friendly countries" to send help after two massive blasts flattened Beirut's port, killing dozens and wounding thousands.

"I am sending an urgent appeal to all countries that are friends and brothers and love Lebanon, to stand by its side and help us treat these deep wounds," he said in a televised address. — AFP

The two explosions that shook Beirut on Tuesday left 27 people dead and 2,500 injured, according to "preliminary estimates" announced by Health Minister Hamad Hassan.

"It is a disaster in every sense of the word," he said in an interview with several television channels while visiting a hospital in the Lebanese capital. — AFP

A boat caught fire off Beirut following two huge explosions in the Lebanese capital's port Tuesday, but it was not clear whether there were people on board, an AFP correspondent says.

Security forces ordered journalists to leave the port area for fear that fuel on board the vessel could catch fire.  — AFP

Two massive explosions that hit Beirut on Tuesday may have been caused by explosive materials confiscated years ago and stored at the city's port, General Security chief Abbas Ibrahim says.

"It appears that there is a warehouse containing material that was confiscated years ago, and it appears that it was highly explosive material," the senior security official says, adding that an investigation would be launched into the explosions. — AFP

The powerful explosions that rocked the port of Beirut on Tuesday left "people dead and injured", the Lebanon's National News Agency reports

Georges Kettaneh, the president of the Lebanese Red Cross, referrs to "hundreds of wounded" in a statement on Lebanese LBC television, adding: "We are overwhelmed by phone calls."

Lebanon’s Prime Minister Hasan Diab has declared Wednesday a day of mourning, and President Michel Aoun called for "urgent" defence council talks. — AFP