Saida covered by smoke from the city's landfill, May 23, 2023. (Credit: Muntasser Abdallah)
BEIRUT — A landfill in Saida burned for a third consecutive day Tuesday, our correspondent in the region reported, with firefighters still to extinguish the flames while foul odors and smoke spread over the city.
The smoke and stench led several local schools to close on Monday. Some people who inhaled smoke were briefly hospitalized.
Saida MP Oussama Saad accused the waste treatment plant adjacent to the landfill of "causing harm" to residents on Tuesday.
"Neither the municipality nor the ministries concerned nor the justice system care about what happens. What is this plant hiding?" Saad told L'Orient Today.
MP Abdul Rahman Bizri, also from Saida, called on caretaker Environment Minister Nasser Yassin to dispatch a team alongside by law enforcement to inspect the waste treatment plant and find the cause of the blaze.
Forest fires
Elsewhere in Lebanon, fires broke out Tuesday in a pine forest in the Akkar town of Rahbe, our correspondent in the region reported.
Volunteers from the environmental NGO Akkar Trail fought to extinguish the flames and prevent them from reaching agricultural land and woods.
Civil Defense also fought blazes in Aley and Beddawi, near Tripoli. Another fire in the Bekaa Valley town of Ablah spread to a vehicle parked nearby. Firefighters managed to control the fire before it spread to the agricultural fields.
A fire also occurred in a wood warehouse in Jbeil, on the coast, according to our correspondent, before firefighters brought it under control.
Strong winds and high temperatures since Monday have increased the risk of wildfires countrywide.
Firefighters have in recent years faced equipment shortages due to the economic crisis. "We are most concerned about the level of preparedness," the Yassin told L'Orient Today last month.
Reporting contributed by Muntasser Abdallah and Michel Hallak