INTERVIEW
The toll is still provisional but already heavy: at least 137 people died and 5,000 were injured in the two explosions that destroyed part of the Lebanese capital, Beirut, on Tuesday. On Europe 1 Thursday, the doctor Ismail Hassouneh, national secretary of the French Secours populaire, took stock two days after the disaster that devastated the city. If the number of wounded arriving in hospitals has fallen, according to him, health workers lack drugs and medical equipment to treat the wounded.
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Already strongly mobilized by the Covid-19 epidemic, the Beirut hospital structures had to deal from Tuesday with "a very significant flow [of wounded who] saturated the hospitals", indicated Ismail Hassouneh. According to him, however, the trend is downward. "There are still a few casualties arriving but compared to yesterday it has decreased."
Medicines destroyed in the explosion
Hospitals must therefore face a new problem: the shortage of drugs. "Equipment and drugs that were stored at the port were destroyed," said the doctor, adding that "almost the majority of hospitals have used their stocks."
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To come to the aid of the Lebanese, several countries have dispatched rescue teams and equipment. The European Union announced Thursday that it had released 33 million euros urgently. Italy has provided a military vessel with medical evacuation capability by helicopter and medical equipment. They also mobilized 250 firefighters specializing in search and rescue, we learned from a European source. But for Ismail Hassouneh, this is not enough for the moment. "Thanks to international humanitarian aid, we are starting to have some material, but we have to think about how we can deal with this situation in the days to come."