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Foreign Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne said Canada is in a position to help Lebanon “as much as we can” after a massive explosion that shook Beirut on Tuesday, crushed much of the port, damaged buildings in the Lebanese capital, and sent a giant fungus into the sky.
At least 70 other people were killed and 3,000 injured. But with many bodies buried in the rubble, the authorities expected the death toll to rise.
Hours after the explosion, ambulances still carried the wounded as army helicopters helped fight fires at the port.
The sudden devastation struck a country already suffering from the coronavirus pandemic and an economic crisis: Beirut’s hospitals temporarily filled beyond its capacity, calling for blood materials and turbines to keep their lighting fixtures on.
The cause of the explosion, which caused fires, overturned cars and exploded windows and doors, not without known delay.
Abbas Ibrahim, Lebanon’s chief of general security, said it was possibly caused by highly explosive fabrics that were confiscated from a shipment a while ago and stored in the port. Local television station LBC reported that the sodium nitrate curtain.
Witnesses reported seeing a strange orange cloud at the site after the explosion. Orange clouds of nitrogen dioxide and carbon dioxide accompany an explosion involving nitrates.
An Israeli government official said Israel “had nothing to do” with the explosion. He spoke on condition of anonymity because it was not legal to discuss the matter with the media. Israeli officials do not comment on “foreign reports.”
The explosion wobbled even for a city that has experienced civil war, suicide bombings and israeli bombings. You may hear and feel as far away as Cyprus, more than two hundred kilometers (180 miles) across the Mediterranean.
“It’s a real horror show. I haven’t noticed anything like this since the (civil) war,” said Marwan Ramadan, who about 500 metres from the port and collapsed by force from the explosion.
Health Minister Hassan Hamad said the initial death toll killed at least 73 and more than 3,000 injured. Emergency teams came from all over Lebanon to help, and the wounded had to be transported to hospitals outside the capital.
Champagne said Canada is following the stage in Lebanon.
“Our hearts are with those who suffer and their families,” Champagne wrote on Twitter.
“We are with the other Lebanese and the diaspora at this difficult time and we are in a position to help as much as we can.”
Tragic of #Beirut today. Canada is very following the situation.
Our hearts are with those who suffer and their families.
We are with the other people of #Liban and the diaspora at this difficult time and we are in a position to help as much as we can.
Francois-Philippe Champagne (FPC) ?? (@FP_Champagne) 4 August 2020
Canadians in need of consular assistance may contact the Canadian Embassy in Lebanon at 961 4726700 or call the Federal Emergency Monitoring and Response Center at 1613996 8885, or write an email to [email protected], officials from the Canadian Office of World Affairs.
Global Affairs officials said they had still won a request for consular assistance.
There are 10,960 Canadians in Lebanon who are registered in the Canadian Overseas Registration Database (ROCA) for Global Affairs.
Hours after the explosion, several foreign media outlets reported that former Montreal businessman Nazar Najarian was one of those who suffered the explosion. His death was demonstrated through family members. Najarian was the general secretary of a Lebanese political party called Christian Kataeb, also known as Falanges.
He also showed Najarian’s death.
The Lebanese-Armenian politician and businessman had returned to Lebanon after spending several years in Canada. His Facebook page indexed Montreal as his hometown.
According to a press release from the Christian Kataeb party, Najarian at his workplace in Beirut’s Saifi district when the explosion occurred.
With The Associated Press and Reuters
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