"If reforms are not made, Lebanon will continue to sink," Macron says in Beirut

Two days after the violent explosions that reduced the Lebanese capital to a city in a state of emergency and in the grip of chaos, French President Emmanuel Macron arrived Thursday August 6 in Beirut where he was greeted by his Lebanese counterpart Michel Aoun. "Lebanon is not alone," he tweeted just before arriving on the airport tarmac.

Lebanon is not alone.

"This support is obvious because it is Lebanon, because it is France. I had to be there to bring this solidarity and this fraternity", then declared Emmanuel Macron while putting forward the assistance provided by France, which dispatched teams of first-aid workers and equipment. The head of state said he wanted to help organize international aid. 

"For me, this visit is also a frank dialogue with Lebanese institutions," he added, referring to the political crisis affecting the country. "If reforms are not made, Lebanon will continue to sink." "We will not let you go," he concluded, addressing the Lebanese people during this first statement.

He is the first head of state to visit this country since the disaster on Tuesday. There he will be faced with an "apocalyptic" situation, hundreds of thousands of people brutally deprived of shelter and resources and a still provisional toll of at least 137 dead and 5,000 injured, according to the Ministry of Health.

At least one Frenchman, architect Jean-Marc Bonfils, was killed in the disaster. Twenty-four French people were also injured, three of whom are in serious condition, said Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne, Secretary of State to the Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs.

Accompanied by Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, Emmanuel Macron is to visit the site of the disaster in the port of the capital. Interviews with Lebanese President Michel Aoun, Prime Minister Hassan Diab and President of Parliament Nabih Berri are on the program for his visit, as well as a press conference around 6.30 p.m. (5.30 p.m. Paris time).

French architect Jean-Marc Bonfils died in the terrible disaster in Beirut. I pay tribute to his major work, such as the restoration of heritage buildings destroyed by the war in Lebanon. France and Lebanon are united in the grief of his death.

An emergency number

For French nationals present on site, the French Embassy has provided an emergency number:  +961 1 420 292 , to provide them with assistance if necessary.

Several countries have also provided assistance to deal with the emergency after the double explosion presented as accidental by the authorities which devastated the port and much of the capital.

"The situation is apocalyptic, Beirut has never known that in its history," said the city's governor, Marwan Abboud, who burst into tears on Tuesday in front of the cameras in front of the devastated port. Up to 300,000 people are homeless, he said. A state of emergency was declared for two weeks.

Dozens of missing

The huge blasts, the worst experienced by Lebanon, were triggered by a fire that broke out in a warehouse that has housed some 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate for six years, "without precautionary measures", according to the authorities. They practically destroyed the port and devastated entire districts of Beirut, blowing windows for miles around.

An official source informed of the first results of the investigation into the causes of the disaster said that the explosion was the result of negligence and that this point had been examined several times by various commissions and by the courts without "nothing having happened. be done "to order the evacuation of these extremely hazardous materials.

"2750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate stored among the population since 2014, it shows you how much we live among irresponsible leaders. What is absolutely disastrous is that these are the same people who are today at the head of the government ", reacted on the antenna of France 24 Maya Chams Ibrahimchah, founder of the NGO Beit el-Baraka which helps the destitute. "These are the same people who since 1975 were the feudal kings of the civil war and who unfortunately are still there. We have successive governments which have only driven this country down by stealing it." 

"We have successive governments that have only pushed this country down by stealing it"

According to Reuters, a ministerial source, the authorities have ordered the house arrest of port officials in charge of warehouses or monitoring the incriminated materials since 2014.

Dozens of people remained missing Wednesday, according to the government, while rescuers continued their search in the hope of locating survivors.

This tragedy strikes a country plunged for months in a very serious economic crisis, marked by an unprecedented depreciation of its currency, hyperinflation, massive layoffs and drastic banking restrictions.

Its effects have been further aggravated by the coronavirus pandemic, which in recent months has forced the authorities to confine its population for more than three months.

The UN Food and Agriculture Agency, FAO, now says it fears a problem with the availability of flour for Lebanon in the near future, as grain silos installed near the port have been gutted.

"We are going to find ourselves without flour, without milk, which are the two most important things. Meat consumption has also fallen by 80%," said Maya Chams Ibrahimchah. "We are going to face a very big food problem. It is not correct to talk about famine when we see countries like Yemen where children are starving. We are not there, but we are certainly on the way. towards a famine ".

The anger of the Lebanese

In shock, the Lebanese shouted their anger at this catastrophe too many. "Go all! (...) You are corrupt, negligent, destructive, immoral. You are cowards. It is your cowardice and your negligence that killed people", launched a well-known Lebanese journalist, Marcel Ghanem, whose the television show enjoys a large audience. The hashtag "Hang them" was circulating on Twitter.

The large Lebanese diaspora has also demanded accountability. "This tragedy is further proof of the incompetence of the political class which has governed Lebanon for several decades," said Antoine Fleyfel, Franco-Lebanese philosopher and theologian, living in France.

According to security sources, port authorities, customs and security services were all aware of hazardous chemicals being stored at the port but mutually denied responsibility for the matter.

The Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) for its part announced on Wednesday to postpone the reading of the judgment, scheduled for Friday, in the trial of four men accused of having participated in the 2005 assassination of the former Lebanese Prime Minister. Rafic Hariri, "out of respect for the countless victims" of the explosions.

With AFP

• NB: For French nationals present on site, the French Embassy in Beirut has set up an emergency number: +961 1 420 292 •

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