Lebanese government investigating Beirut explosion
- 4 years ago
레바논, 대폭발 원인 지목 질산암모늄 '방치' 규명 착수
A day after a massive explosion shook Lebanon's capital of Beirut,... the death toll in the city has risen to 135... with five thousand others wounded.
Lebanon's president said the blast was caused by a huge amount of ammonium nitrate that was stored in a warehouse.
The Lebanese government has launched an investigation into exactly what happened.
Kim Sung-min reports.
The 27-hundred metric tons of ammonium nitrate stored in a warehouse in Beirut's port has been pointed to as the source of the massive explosion in the city.
Now, all eyes are on who is responsible for the storage and why such dangerous material had been kept unsecured for such a long time.
The Lebanese government has launched an investigation into the blast…,saying it will not rest until it finds those responsible.
"What happened today won't pass without accountability, those responsible will pay the price for what happened, this is a promise to the wounded and a national commitment. Facts will be revealed about this dangerous warehouse that has been there since 2014."
The incident is evolving into a political scandal and many Middle Eastern media outlets have been blaming high ranking government officials.
Aljazeera reported on Wednesday local time that officials had been aware of the dangerous storage for more than six years.
It said that the ammonium nitrate was shipped to the Beirut port in 2013 by a Russian-owned ship..., but no meaningful steps were taken to handle the explosive material.
As of Wednesday local time, the death toll from the explosion has jumped to 135, with nearly 5-thousand wounded and dozens still missing.
Officials say they expect the death toll to grow as emergency workers dig through the rubble to search for survivors.
The country's cabinet declared a two-week state of emergency in Beirut, with its president calling for unity.
Against such a backdrop, the UN is stepping up to increase emergency assistance to Lebanon.
Other countries have offered emergency aid.
France's president is planning to visit Beirut, and South Korea is also discussing detailed plans to provide support.
Kim Sung-min, Arirang News.
A day after a massive explosion shook Lebanon's capital of Beirut,... the death toll in the city has risen to 135... with five thousand others wounded.
Lebanon's president said the blast was caused by a huge amount of ammonium nitrate that was stored in a warehouse.
The Lebanese government has launched an investigation into exactly what happened.
Kim Sung-min reports.
The 27-hundred metric tons of ammonium nitrate stored in a warehouse in Beirut's port has been pointed to as the source of the massive explosion in the city.
Now, all eyes are on who is responsible for the storage and why such dangerous material had been kept unsecured for such a long time.
The Lebanese government has launched an investigation into the blast…,saying it will not rest until it finds those responsible.
"What happened today won't pass without accountability, those responsible will pay the price for what happened, this is a promise to the wounded and a national commitment. Facts will be revealed about this dangerous warehouse that has been there since 2014."
The incident is evolving into a political scandal and many Middle Eastern media outlets have been blaming high ranking government officials.
Aljazeera reported on Wednesday local time that officials had been aware of the dangerous storage for more than six years.
It said that the ammonium nitrate was shipped to the Beirut port in 2013 by a Russian-owned ship..., but no meaningful steps were taken to handle the explosive material.
As of Wednesday local time, the death toll from the explosion has jumped to 135, with nearly 5-thousand wounded and dozens still missing.
Officials say they expect the death toll to grow as emergency workers dig through the rubble to search for survivors.
The country's cabinet declared a two-week state of emergency in Beirut, with its president calling for unity.
Against such a backdrop, the UN is stepping up to increase emergency assistance to Lebanon.
Other countries have offered emergency aid.
France's president is planning to visit Beirut, and South Korea is also discussing detailed plans to provide support.
Kim Sung-min, Arirang News.