Daily Times

Beirut residents are familiar to the sound of blasts, and scenes of fire and fury as years of Israel-sponsored civil war, internal sectarian strife and Israel-Hezobullah wars have brought death and destruction to the scenic city for decades. The devastation wrought by the single August 4 blast, however, has almost annihilated the port city and such scale of destruction is only seen in the aftermath of a tsunami or earthquake. The city saw two explosions: the first ignited a fire, and the second one, which was really horrible, caused a mushroom cloud of smoke and fire covering the city’s skyline while the ensuing shock waves battered buildings across the city and injured thousands. So far, 135 deaths have been recorded and it is said scores of people, several of them firefighters and emergency aid workers, are missing; up to 5,000 people have been injured, and many of them would lose their fight for life. The city’s healthcare infrastructure, already burdened with COVID-19 patients, has been struggling with the influx of the people injured in the blast. The blast and ensuing fire annihilated the city’s essential sectors. Though foreign medical aid and food supplies have started arriving in the city, Lebanon needs more aid articles and workers. Already reeling from economic woes, Lebanon needs world’s support in the time of its worst crisis. Side by side, Lebanon needs to investigate the blast, without ruling out the possibilities of sabotage, terrorism, foreign aggression and accident.

Initial suggestions by the Lebanese authorities state that the explosion stemmed from a human error or accident as a conflagration of chemicals, seized from a ship, remained unattended in a warehouse at the port for a good six years. Given the nature of civil strife going on in the country, and in the presence of hostile neighbours like Israel, this tragic incident should be investigated thoroughly. The very initial response by the caretaker government of Prime Minister Hassan Diab, was the detention of all port employees. That is the right step. On the other hand, US President Donald Trump insists it was an attack and he appears to have reached the conclusion after a briefing by his military staff. Pakistan has lessons to learn from the Lebanon blast. The authorities need to regulate the affairs of the port and start a cleanup operation on the port premises and suburban areas. Earlier in previous months, a strange smell killed several people in the port areas, and the issue still remains unresolved. *