Tag: blast

Lebanon police scuffle with demonstrators angered by blast

BEIRUT, Lebanon (AFP) — 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, vandalized stores and lobbed stones at security forces, according to the […]

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Sixteen detained over Beirut blast: prosecutor

BEIRUT, Lebanon (AFP) — Sixteen staff members at Beirut’s port, the site of a massive explosion, have been detained over the deadly blast that devastated large parts of the city, a military prosecutor said Thursday. Lebanese authorities had announced an investigation into Tuesday’s explosion, which they said was triggered by a fire igniting 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate stored in a warehouse at Beirut’s port. Lebanon’s foreign minister said on French radio Thursday that an […]

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Macron visits traumatised Lebanon after deadly mega-blast

by Jean-Marc Mojon BEIRUT, Lebanon (AFP) — French President Emmanuel Macron visited shell-shocked Beirut Thursday, pledging support and urging change after a massive explosion devastated the Lebanese capital in a disaster that has has sparked grief and fury. “Lebanon is not alone,” he tweeted on arrival before pledging Paris would coordinate international relief efforts after the colossal blast killed at least 137 people, wounded thousands and caused billions of dollars in damage. But Macron also […]

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German diplomat killed in Beirut blast

BERLIN, Germany (AFP) — A German diplomat was killed in the huge explosion in Beirut, the first confirmed German fatality, as the country’s foreign minister expressed his condolences on Thursday over the tragedy. “All of us at the foreign ministry are in deep mourning for our colleague,” said Heiko Maas in a statement. He added that the female employee had died in her apartment in the Lebanese capital. The news “confirmed our worst fears”, the […]

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Lebanon blast killed at least 137, injured 5,000: ministry

BEIRUT, Lebanon (AFP) — The huge blast at Beirut port has killed at least 137 people, left dozens missing and at least 5,000 wounded, a Lebanese health ministry spokesperson said Thursday. Tuesday’s explosion obliterated part of the port and caused damage over a wide radius in the heart of the city, prompting fears the final death toll could yet rise significantly. © Agence France-Presse

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France opens probe into Beirut blast after 21 citizens wounded: prosecutors

PARIS, France (AFP) — Prosecutors in France opened an investigation Wednesday after 21 French citizens were wounded in the devastating blast at the port in the Lebanese capital Beirut, the Paris prosecutor said. The prosecutors opened a probe into “involuntary injury” using their jurisdiction to investigate acts committed abroad, Paris prosecutor Remy Heintz said in a statement. At least 113 people were killed in Tuesday’s blast with dozens still missing and 4,000 people wounded. Heitz […]

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Anger mounts as Lebanon’s ‘Armageddon’ death toll tops 113

by Rouba el Husseini and Tony Gamal-Gabriel BEIRUT, Lebanon (AFP) — Anger mounted in Lebanon on Wednesday as rescuers searched for survivors of a cataclysmic explosion at Beirut port that wreaked destruction across the city, killing at least 113 people, wounding thousands and plunging crisis-striken Lebanon further into the abyss. The blast on Tuesday, apparently triggered by a fire igniting 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate fertilizer left unsecured in a warehouse of Beirut port, was […]

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Utter devastation as toll from Beirut monster blast tops 100

by Tony Gamal-Gabriel and Layal Abou Rahal Agence France Presse BEIRUT, Lebanon (AFP) — Rescuers searched for survivors in Beirut Wednesday after a cataclysmic explosion at the port sowed devastation across entire neighbourhoods, killing more than 100 people, wounding thousands and plunging Lebanon deeper into crisis. The blast, which appeared to have been caused by a fire igniting 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate left unsecured in a warehouse, was felt as far away as Cyprus, […]

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Lebanon PM says 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate exploded in port

BEIRUT, Lebanon (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 defense council meeting, a spokesman told a press conference. “It is unacceptable and we […]

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Explosion hits Iran power plant

TEHRAN, Iran (AFP) — An explosion hit a power plant in the central Iranian province of Isfahan Sunday, state news agency IRNA reported, saying it was triggered by faulty equipment and caused no casualties. A “worn out transformer… at Isfahan’s Islamabad thermal power plant exploded at around 5:00 am today,” the managing director of Isfahan’s electricity company Said Mohseni told the agency. The facility returned to normal working conditions after about two hours and Isfahan’s […]

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Huge fire breaks out at India gas well blowout

GUWAHATI, India (AFP) — A huge fire broke out at an oil field near popular ecotourism spots in northeastern India on Tuesday, after gas that had spewed for two weeks from a blown-out well ignited, officials said. The gas well at an oil field managed by state-owned Oil India started leaking in late May in Tinsukia district of Assam state, and the firm said late last week gas was still flowing “uncontrollably”. Tuesday’s explosion sent […]

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Threat to national park, wetlands after India gas well blowout

GUWAHATI, India (AFP) — About 2,000 people have been evacuated from their homes as authorities struggle to control gas pouring from an exploded well near a popular ecotourism spot in northeastern India. The gas well in an oil field managed by state-owned Oil India Ltd blew out last Wednesday in Tinsukia district of Assam state, and “started releasing natural gas in an uncontrolled manner”, the company said. Authorities have established an exclusion zone of 1.5 kilometres […]

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