View of the destroyed silos of the Port of Beirut. (Credit: Anwar Amro/AFP)
BEIRUT — The Solidarity Campaign for Protecting the Beirut Port Silos on Tuesday blamed the “caretaker government for the ongoing fire [at the port] and the damages caused by it.” On Monday, photographer Daniel Carde reported that a fire was burning in the silos for the second time in a week, the previous fire occuring last Thursday.
Here’s what we know:
• In a statement, the Solidarity Campaign, which includes the families of the victims of the Aug. 4, 2020, Beirut port explosion, said it “urges the government to react immediately and extinguish the fire and deal with its causes.”
• “What is surprising in the matter is that the ones concerned did not make any decision to extinguish the fire or investigate the matter,” the statement also said.
• A spokesperson for the Civil Defense told L’Orient Today on Tuesday that he was not informed of yesterday’s fire at the port. “If the fire was significant we would have been told,” he said. Carde told L’Orient Today on Tuesday that he could still see smoke emerging from the port but he wasn’t sure if a fire was still burning in the grain silos. He also mentioned a fire smell in the vicinity.
• On Thursday evening, firefighters extinguished a blaze in the grain silos at the Beirut port, which were seriously damaged by the explosion. According to several local media outlets, the fire was caused by the fermentation of wheat that remains scattered in and around the silos.
• The Solidarity Campaign also called on the government to “withdraw its decision of demolishing [the silos] and to start consolidating the silos and taking the responsibility of any tampering with the crime scene.”
• Lebanese authorities want the silos destroyed, saying that studies have shown the structure is in danger of collapsing. However, the families of the port blast victims oppose their demolition, believing that the authorities are seeking to destroy evidence. Last month, MPs from the Kataeb party introduced a draft law in Parliament that would classify the silos as a national monument to commemorate the victims of the explosion, preventing their demolition.
• The director general of the Beirut port, Omar Itani, and caretaker Public Works Minister Ali Hamieh both denied on Monday a media report claiming that demolition of the Beirut port silos had begun.