China News Agency, Brussels, August 5 (Reporter De Yongjian) After the big explosion in the port area of Beirut, the capital of Lebanon, on the 4th, the European Union announced on the 5th that it would activate the civil defense mechanism and will dispatch more than 100 firefighters to Lebanon to help treat the wounded.
According to the announcement issued by the European Commission on the same day, as the first step of emergency assistance, the European Union activated the civil defense mechanism at the request of the Lebanese government. Currently, more than 100 well-trained firefighters are being urgently dispatched to Lebanon. They will be taken to help Lebanon. The vehicles, search and rescue dogs and other equipment searched and rescued in the city worked with the Lebanese authorities to treat the wounded.
The announcement stated that the Netherlands, Greece, and the Czech Republic have confirmed their participation in the rescue operation. France, Poland, and Germany have provided assistance to Lebanon through the civil defense mechanism, and other EU member states have also expressed their willingness to assist.
In addition, the “Copernicus Emergency Management Service” (Copernicus EMS), an important component of the European Union’s Global Environment and Safety Monitoring System (Copernicus Plan), has been activated and is sending maps to the Lebanese disaster relief department to help assess the explosion.
The announcement quoted the European Commission’s Crisis Management Commissioner Lenarcic as saying that the explosion caused a large number of casualties. The EU felt the shock and sorrow of the Lebanese people and expressed condolences to the victims; the EU will fully support Lebanon during this difficult period. People, ready to provide further help to Lebanon.
The EU Civil Defense Mechanism was established in 2001 to coordinate participating countries' response to natural disasters, major accidents, emergencies, etc. in Europe and other regions. So far, 34 countries have participated, including the 27 EU countries, the United Kingdom, Iceland, Norway, and Serbia. , Montenegro, North Macedonia and Turkey.
In the past, the European Union often activated the civil defense mechanism to deal with major disasters in other countries, such as the earthquake in Central Sulawesi Province in Indonesia in 2018 and the Bolivian forest fire in 2019; when the European Union announced the launch of the civil defense mechanism to assist Lebanon on the 5th, according to statistics from the Lebanese government , The big explosion on the 4th caused at least 130 deaths and nearly 5,000 injuries. Lebanese Prime Minister Diab declared the 5th a day of national mourning and called on the international community to provide assistance. (Finish)