Lebanon: several dozen dead in the explosion of a tanker truck in Akkar
The scene of the tanker explosion in Tleil, northern Lebanon.
Akkar Province, Sunday August 15, 2021. AFP - GHASSAN SWEIDAN
Text by: RFI Follow
6 mins
A tanker truck exploded in the village of Tleil, Akkar, on the night of Sunday August 15, 2021. The Lebanese Red Cross speaks of at least 20 dead and 80 injured.
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The Red Cross speaks of bodies so charred that it is impossible to identify them.
Dozens of people with severe burns had to be evacuated to the region's only hospital treating severe burns, in the city of Tripoli, 25 kilometers away.
An employee of the hospital closest to the tragedy, Yassine Metlej, explains to Agence France-Presse that "
some no longer have a face, others no more arms
".
This is why his establishment had to refuse most of the wounded for lack of equipment.
Images circulating on social media show the lifeless bodies, as well as the fire.
Former Prime Minister Saad Hariri goes so far as to assert on his official Twitter account that "
the Akkar massacre is no different from the port massacre
", which occurred a year and ten days ago in Beirut.
He is calling for the resignation of the current government.
The first elements on the causes of the explosion
According to the Lebanese National News Agency (ANI), the tragedy comes from a tanker truck that the army had confiscated and which exploded, after clashes between residents gathered around the vehicle to obtain gasoline .
The army was not present at the scene when the explosion occurred, the agency said.
Paul Khalifeh
, our correspondent in Beirut, relates that the explosion was of accidental origin.
The incident occurred after a Lebanese army patrol left to requisition the contents of the illegally stored tank.
Residents then gathered to try to collect the amount of gasoline remaining in the cistern, which was hidden in a sand pit.
A person present would have inadvertently lit a lighter, causing the explosion.
From disaster to disaster, the Lebanese nightmare
If the exact circumstances must now be confirmed, this tragedy occurs in the unprecedented context of shortage that is paralyzing the country.
Power outages peak at up to 22 hours a day and many businesses have had to close for lack of fuel to power private generators which normally take over.
This week, as endless queues formed outside gas stations, the government announced the end of fuel subsidies and the military was mobilized to force stations to distribute it.
Incidents broke out all over the place;
roads were cut and angry protests took place.
On the eve of the tragedy, Saturday August 14, the American University of Beirut Medical Center, one of the main private hospitals in Lebanon, warned that an impending disaster threatened the country.
Lack of fuel within 48 hours, he assured, some "
40 sick adults and 15 children on respirators will die immediately
."
The world's worst crisis in over a century and a half
The most serious thing is that there is no clearing up in sight in the matter.
On the contrary, the shortage has worsened in the past 24 hours, despite the deployment of the Lebanese army and security forces to almost all gas stations in the country.
The soldiers inspected the tanks, then requisitioned and fined those who stored the fuels to resell them five times more expensive after the lifting of fuel subsidies announced by the Banque du Liban (BDL).
It is the shortage of fuel oil that affects the country the most.
Bakeries have shut down their production units causing a shortage of bread.
Restaurants have gone out of business;
shopping centers have lowered their curtains;
hospitals have closed entire departments.
The leaders shy away from responsibility.
Since the terrible explosion that in 2019 devastated the country's main port, killing more than 200 people and destroying entire swathes of the capital, Lebanon has been going through one of the worst economic crises in the world since 1850, according to the World Bank The AFP recalls that the BDL's reserves have melted while the national currency, the Lebanese pound, has lost more than 90% of its value against the dollar, making import costs more expensive.
The American greenback is traded today on the black market at more than 20,000 pounds, against an official rate still maintained at 1,507 pounds ...
Nidal, 63-year-old company executive, talks about how he is organizing himself in the face of the crisis
Paul Khalifeh
→ To read again: With the shortage of gasoline, the Lebanese face a multifaceted crisis
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