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| Police deploy tear gas as protesters in Lebanon try to break into parliament building following massive Beirut explosion | Police deploy tear gas as protesters in Lebanon try to break into parliament building following massive Beirut explosion |
| (32 minutes later) | |
| Huge crowds have gathered near Lebanon's parliament building, blaming the government for the massive ammonium nitrate explosion. Police responded with tear gas after demonstrators threw stones and tried to break the barriers. | Huge crowds have gathered near Lebanon's parliament building, blaming the government for the massive ammonium nitrate explosion. Police responded with tear gas after demonstrators threw stones and tried to break the barriers. |
| Livestreaming video from the streets shows riot police armed with shields pushing forward to disperse crowds from outside the parliament building as tear gas fills the air. Protesters, mostly masked to protect them from Covid-19, are throwing rocks and projectiles directly at the security forces – with some of them hurling the projectiles directly back – and refusing to leave. | |
| Thousands gathered on Beirut’s Martyrs’ Square, next to the parliament building on Saturday, angry at the government of President Michel Aoun and demanding justice for the victims of Tuesday’s blast that claimed over 150 lives, injured hundreds, and left many homeless. | |
| Cutouts of what appears to be Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Hassan Nasrallah, the secretary general of Hezbollah, were placed in nooses set up by the demonstrators. | |
| Video shows that more demonstrators were marching there from Mar Mikhael, one of the areas most impacted by the explosion. The protesters are calling for the government to be removed. The tragedy struck the country at a time when the citizens are already disgruntled over the economic turmoil. | |
| Saturday’s protest became tense with protesters trying to get close to Parliament and attempting to work their way past barricades protecting the building. | |
| Local media has described the scene in central Beirut as a “battlefield,” as protesters run from security forces and throw tear gas back at them. Emergency vehicles can be seen in the area as well. | |
| The ammonium nitrate that caused the massive explosion in Beirut on Tuesday is currently being investigated, but many already believe it to be the result of negligence, as the highly explosive chemical was stored at a port for six years with little to no oversight or security measures. | The ammonium nitrate that caused the massive explosion in Beirut on Tuesday is currently being investigated, but many already believe it to be the result of negligence, as the highly explosive chemical was stored at a port for six years with little to no oversight or security measures. |
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