Last week, clouds of smoke rising from the port of Beirut took residents of the city back to the terror of the August 4 tragedy.
On September 10th, a massive fire erupted at the port and experts are still not sure why or how. Black smoke trailed off from the port from a fire that was burning near the explosion site.
Just as the explosion had destroyed grain silos and the main point for imports, unfortunately, even vital donations are being neglected and destroyed.
The huge fire took with it some of the humanitarian aid that was filling the void.
The International Committee of The Red Cross (ICRC) announced in a statement: “a part of the ICRC’s stock of food parcels stored at our supplier’s warehouse has caught fire.”
According to the ICRC Regional Director for Near and Middle East, Fabrizio Carboni, the recent fire burned in the warehouse where the ICRC stocked thousands of food parcels and half a million liters of oil.
The food parcels included essential basic goods such as sunflower oil, olive oil, sugar, salt, tea, vegetable ghee, pasta, tomato paste, bulgur, chickpeas, lentils, and beans.
However, due to the rubble and danger at the port, they cannot confirm “the level of loss incurred at this time,” said the statement.
In addition, ICRC’s stock of humanitarian aid that was at the port during the blast had to be salvaged after Aug. 4. So far, around 18,900 food parcels were safely moved from the area.
The ICRC says it will not spare any effort to provide uninterrupted support to those in need, despite the impact of the explosion and the fire(s).
“We will continue to support Lebanon and its people during these trying times.”
