A new catastrophe almost hit Beirut on Monday if not for the quick intervention of its fire brigade.
Amid heightened security measures targeting the random and unsafe storage of combustibles in buildings, some people have been using abandoned cars in the streets of Beirut as an alternative, which is risking public safety.
The Public Relations Department in Beirut Municipality said that this new dangerous phenomenon is spreading among people who “neglect their lives and the lives of others.”
These people are storing gasoline, diesel fuel, and other highly-combustible substances inside cars that have been parked or abandoned in certain locations for a long time in the streets of the capital.
Considering the serious threat that this poses to public safety, Beirut Governor Marwan Abboud tasked Beirut City Guard Regiment and Beirut Fire Brigade to inspect these scattered cars and to ask their owners to remove them immediately.
Abboud warned that cars that have been turned into mobile storage containers for fuel or any hazardous materials will be seized, and their owners will be held legally accountable.
One of these “combustible cars” almost resulted in a new disaster in Tariq El-Jdideh, Beirut, when it caught fire on Monday. Thankfully, firefighters were quick to extinguish the fire before it could lead to something worse.
It has been three weeks since the fateful night when a diesel tank explosion rocked Tariq El-Jdideh, killing 4 and injuring dozens.
The Lebanese people, especially the residents of Beirut, are still recovering from the trauma that they experienced during the August 4 explosion that reaped a death toll and left the city in shambles.
*All images used in this article belong to LBCI
