#silo #collapse #Beirut #port #devastated #blast #AFP
Eight other grain elevators at the port of Beirut collapsed on Tuesday, succumbing to damage from a devastating 2020 explosion in the third such collapse in a month, AFP correspondents reported.
After the collapse, a cloud of dust rose above the port, which brought down the last northern silo block, more severely damaged by the blast, which has been on fire since July.
The remaining southern block is more stable and not in immediate danger of collapsing, said French civil engineer Emmanuel Durand, who installed sensors on the silos.
The silos absorbed much of the impact of the massive explosion of indiscriminately stored ammonium nitrate fertilizer that killed more than 200 people on August 4, 2020.
Other silos collapsed as early as July 31 and August 4.
A fire has been burning in the silos for more than a month while the remaining grain stores ferment in the summer heat.
In April, the government ordered the silos to be demolished, but the operation was suspended, in part due to objections from relatives of victims of the blast who want them preserved as a memorial.
Public Works Minister Ali Hamieh announced last week that the government had agreed to reserve 25,000 square meters of the port for the construction of new grain elevators.
This is larger than the current complex, which occupies an area of 21,000 square meters (226,000 sq ft).
Hamieh said funding would come from international donors as well as from the government, which has been left bankrupt by a devastating financial crisis.
Social Tags:
#silo #collapse #Beirut #port #devastated #blast #AFP
