French President Emmanuel Macron arrived Thursday in Beirut to survey the site of this week’s devastating explosion whose death toll has risen to 137 — as Lebanese army bulldozers plowed through the giant mounds of debris to clear a path.
The government has pledged to investigate the Tuesday blast after an apparently accidental fire ignited a stockpile of ammonium nitrate in the ravaged capital city. More than 5,000 people were injured and hundreds of thousands of residents were displaced.
“Lebanon is not alone,” Macron said in a tweet amid pledges of international aid.
“I want to organize European cooperation and, more broadly, international cooperation,” he said upon arrival in Beirut, where he was greeted by Lebanese President Michel Aoun.
Macron, who plans to survey the site of the blast, said Lebanon was facing a political and economic crisis, and that it would continue to suffer unless it enacted reforms.
It emerged Thursday that a French national, architect Jean-Marc Bonfils, was killed in the explosion and 24 other French citizens people were injured, Reuters reported.
Meanwhile, Prince Charles and his wife the Duchess Cornwall offered their condolences to Aoun.
In a message posted on the couple’s official Twitter account, the heir to the British throne wrote: “My wife and I wanted you to know how deeply we feel for all the people of Lebanon following the horrific explosion in Beirut, which has resulted in the tragic death of so many and caused such unimaginable devastation.
“Our hearts go out to all those who have lost loved ones, and all those who have been so terribly injured,” he added.
Britain is sending a navy ship to Beirut to help the city recover from the disaster.
Defense Secretary Ben Wallace sid the survey vessel HMS Enterprise, currently in Cyprus, will assess the damage and help authorities prepare to rebuild the port.
The UK also has pledged a $6.6 million humanitarian support package for Lebanon and said s it will send search-and-rescue teams and expert medical workers.
Losses from the explosion are estimated to be between $10 billion to $15 billion, Beirut Gov. Marwan Abboud told the Saudi-owned TV station Al-Hadath.
The investigation is focused on how 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate — a highly explosive chemical used in fertilizers — came to be stored at the port for six years, and why nothing was done about it.
Port and customs office are notorious for being among the most corrupt and lucrative institutions in the country, where multiple factions and politicians, including the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group, hold sway.
Fueling speculation about negligence, an official letter circulating online showed the customs chief had warned repeatedly over the years that the ammonium nitrate was a danger and had asked judicial officials for a ruling on a way to remove it.
The cargo had been stored at the port since it was confiscated from the Russian cargo ship MV Rhosus, which was seized in Beirut in 2013 when it entered the port due to technical problems, according to lawyers involved in the case.
It came from the nation of Georgia, and had been bound for Mozambique.
The nonprofit organization Human Rights Watch is calling on Lebanese authorities to invite international experts for an independent probe into the explosion, CNN reported.
“Given the Lebanese authorities’ repeated failure to investigate serious government failings and the public’s distrust of government institutions, an independent investigation with international experts is the best guarantee that victims of the explosion will get the justice they deserve,” Aya Majzoub, Lebanon’s researcher at HRW, said in a statement.
“The investigation should determine the causes and responsibility for the explosion and recommend measures to ensure it cannot happen again. The Lebanese government should ensure that those affected by the blast have access to adequate housing, food, water, and health care, with all aid distributed fairly and impartially.”
With Post wires
