In Lebanon, after the deadly explosion of August 4 (Archives) -

Hussein Malla / AP / SIPA;

Four people perished Friday night in Beirut in a fire and explosion that hit a fuel warehouse in a densely populated area, again sowing panic after a series of fires and the deadly August 4 blast in the Lebanese port.

Lieutenant Ali Najm, engaged with the Beirut fire brigade, spoke of a warehouse where there was a "tank of fuel oil" that caught fire and an explosion in the district of Tariq al-Jdidé, saying that the causes did not were not yet known.

The owner of the site arrested

The owner of the room where there was also gasoline was arrested by the police, according to a security source.

It runs one of those private generator services that provide electricity to residents during daily blackouts in Lebanon, according to the source.

"Tariq al-Jdidé explosion: the number of victims has risen to four," the Lebanese Red Cross said on its Twitter account.

Its secretary general Georges Kettané also reported "wounded taken to hospital", according to the National News Agency ANI.

Lebanese television Al-Jadeed, which speaks of more than 20 injured, showed flames in an alleyway and then images where screams could be heard from panicked residents of the area.

Evacuations in progress

Firefighters, using sliding ladders, evacuated residents of neighboring buildings, while gray smoke was still visible, according to images broadcast by the channel.

“The evacuations are continuing,” Beirut governor Marwan Aboud told Al-Jadeed.

In recent weeks, the municipality has been hunting down warehouses that could be in violation or pose a danger to residential neighborhoods, he said.

"We feared that such an accident would happen", he lamented, adding that around a hundred sites had been identified.

"We closed a part, and on the others we imposed procedures to guarantee public safety."

In Lebanon, private generator services abound across the country, sometimes accused of being a veritable mafia taking advantage of electricity shortages, which for decades have forced residents to resort to a subscription to cope with daily power cuts. .

Lebanon experienced a deadly and devastating explosion at the port of Beirut on August 4, which deeply traumatized the country.

The tragedy left 203 dead and 6,500 injured, according to the government's latest report, devastating entire districts of the capital.

Much of the angry public opinion accuses the leaders and politicians, almost unchanged for decades, of being also responsible for the tragedy, due to their corruption and incompetence.

Since then, several fires have broken out in Beirut - including a spectacular fire at the port on September 10.

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