A section of the massive grain silos at Beirut’s port collapsed on Sunday after a week-long fire, sparked by grain stored there fermenting and igniting in the summer heat. According to the Associated Press (AP), the north block of the silos “collapsed, releasing a huge cloud of dust in what appeared to be an explosion.”
“It was not immediately clear if anyone was injured,” says AP.
The giant silos of the port of Lebanon’s capital and largest city, 50 years old and 48 meters high, withstood the 2020 explosion “which killed more than 200 people, injured more than 6,000 and damaged entire neighborhoods.”
This month there was a fire in the northern block of the silos, due to grain fermentation, and the flames could not be extinguished by the firefighters and soldiers of the Lebanese army and “they have been burning for weeks without flame, giving off odors” that reach the nearest cities.
Lebanon’s Health and Environment Ministries last week issued instructions to people living near Beirut’s port to stay indoors and in well-ventilated spaces.
Quoted by the AP, Emmanuel Durand, a French civil engineer who volunteered for the team of experts formed by the Lebanese government after the 2020 tragedy, explained that the northern block of the silos “had been falling since the day of the explosion” and that this month’s fire “weakened its already fragile structure, accelerating its collapse”.
Source: Observadora
