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| ‘Catastrophe’: Lebanese PM pleads for help as over 30 people confirmed dead & 3,000 injured in Beirut blasts | |
| (32 minutes later) | |
| Lebanon’s health minister has confirmed 30 deaths following explosions in the country’s capital, with thousands more injured. The blasts are under investigation, with early reports linking it to stored fireworks and chemicals. | |
| Two blasts struck the port area of Beirut, with the first hitting at around 6pm local time. The second appeared much stronger, sending a huge mushroom cloud-shaped plume of smoke and debris high overhead. | |
| Speaking to local media, Health Minister Hamad Hassan initially said more than 30 people were killed and over 3,000 injured, and later commented that over 25 were killed and 2,500 injured. | |
| The head of the country's Red Cross warned that the number of casualties was likely to rise. | |
| Graphic footage from the scene showed locals desperately rushing the injured to hospital, while many walking wounded were reportedly turned away to allow the more serious receive treatment. Some videos shared online taken closer to the blast site showed what appeared to be bodies lying on the ground amid charred vehicles and debris. | |
| Prime Minister Hassan Diab, whose own wife and daughter were reportedly injured, described the situation as a catastrophe, and said the city is in mourning. He also said that whoever is responsible for the blasts must be held to account. | |
| "I promise you that this catastrophe will not pass without accountability," he remarked in a televised speech. "Those responsible will pay the price." | |
| Apparently referencing earlier comments by Security Director Abbas Ibrahim that the devastating blast involved stored chemicals, Diab added: "Facts about this dangerous warehouse that has been there since 2014 will be announced and I will not preempt the investigations.” | |
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