10th September, 2020
By Muhaimin Olowoporoku
Beirut port has been engulfed by fire weeks after a massive blast in the capital of Lebanon.
The Lebanese army in a tweet explained that the inferno was at a warehouse where oil and tyres are stored in the port’s duty-free zone.
Balls of fire ascended the atmosphere sending panic in the already troubled city where over 200 people were killed almost a month ago following massive explosions.
The army in the tweet also explained that helicopters are being deployed to aid in putting the fire off.
A large fire has broken out at Beirut's port, just over a month after a massive blast devastated the port and surrounding residential area of the Lebanese capital. Read more here: https://t.co/tO33UaSz7v pic.twitter.com/D0g4Emp4b2
— Reuters (@Reuters) September 10, 2020
The fire appeared to have started in a warehouse belonging to a private company that imported cooking oil; it then spread to a stock of rubber tires, the port’s interim general manager, Bassem El-Kaissi, said in a telephone interview.
“That is why you see the big black clouds,” Mr. El-Kaissi told The New York Times, adding that it was too early to speculate about how the fire had begun.
اندلاع حريق في مستودع للزيوت والاطارات في السوق الحرة في مرفأ بيروت، وقد بدأت عمليات اطفاء الحريق وستشارك طوافات الجيش في اخماده#الجيش_اللبناني #LebaneseArmy pic.twitter.com/Ej4Y8LKCwp
— الجيش اللبناني (@LebarmyOfficial) September 10, 2020