The number of victims in Beirut is growing, the estimated damage - USD 10-15 billion

The number of victims in Beirut is growing, the estimated damage - USD 10-15 billion

The number of people killed in the horrific explosion in the port of Beirut has risen to 154, the state news agency NNA reports, citing the allegations of the Lebanese Minister of Health, Hamad Hassan.

Hassan said that every fifth person was injured, and that about 5.000 of them requested hospital treatment.

Currently, 120 people are in critical condition, NNA informs, and Reuters reports.

The explosion damaged a large silo, neighborhoods near the port are in ruins, while broken glass covered several city blocks.

French and Russian rescue teams with dogs searched the port today, the day after Emmanuel Macron's visit to the scene of the explosion.

Macron has promised help and will demand that Lebanese leaders, who have been in power for a long time, implement reforms.

The explosion was caused by the detonation of 2.750 tons of ammonium nitrate, a chemical used for explosives and fertilizer, stored in the port since it was confiscated from a seized ship in 2013.

The government has launched an investigation and found itself under fire of criticism because many Lebanese blame negligence and corruption for the disaster.

Search and rescue teams were sent from several countries to find survivors of the blast.

One of those found near the grain silo is 23-year-old Joe Akiki, a port worker who was listed as missing from the explosion.

Dozens of people are still on that list, and about 300.000 people, more than 12 percent of the population of Beirut, cannot return to their apartments due to the explosion that broke doors and windows all over the city, and many buildings cannot be lived in now.

The damage is estimated at 10 to 15 billion dollars.

Damaged hospitals that were already full due to the coronavirus pandemic are still frantically trying to take care of the injured in the explosion.

The investigation, meanwhile, has focused on port and customs officials, 16 of whom have been detained.

Many Lebanese, however, think that what happened indicates a much greater decay that permeates the political system and reaches the country's leadership.

Lebanon has been dominated by the same political elite for decades, including many military commanders and militia commanders from the 1975-1990 civil war.

Ruling factions use public institutions to amass wealth and distribute protection to supporters.

Thirty years after the end of the civil war, there is still a frequent power outage, garbage is not taken away, and tap water is generally not drinkable.

Even before the explosion, the country was shaken by a serious economic crisis, for which politicians are also to blame.

Unemployment has risen and the decline in the value of the local currency has deprived many people of savings.

All this will make reconstruction even more difficult after the explosion.