LEBANON. After the double explosion in the port of Beirut, which left at least 170 dead (including two French) and 6, 500 wounded, the country is sinking into crisis.

Summary The place of the facts What causes it ? The videos of the explosions on The last balance-sheet, Which is the French died ? A country in crisis

[updated 14 August 2020 18: 15] After the double explosion deadly to the port of Beirut, Lebanon sinks into crisis. Nearly a week after the tragedy, the lebanese Prime minister Hassan Diab announced the resignation of his government, under pressure from the street, who accused the political class incompetence and corruption, and to be responsible for the tragedy of Tuesday, August 4, last. The head of the lebanese government, made the announcement during a speech to the nation, six days after the explosion that devastated part of the city, killing at least 170 people dead and more than 6 500 injured, according to the latest report.

Prior to this announcement, four ministers had slammed the door of the government. Sunday, tensions broke out on the fringes of demonstrations against the government. Protesters stormed several departments of the city, such as Energy or the Economy. A member of the security forces was killed and several protesters injured. Saturday, lebanese Prime minister omar hassan Diab had proposed the organisation of early general elections, which has not calmed down the lebanese population, which is demanding a radical change of the political class. A wish expressed also by the president of france Emmanuel Macron during his visit to Beirut last Thursday. The head of State, the first to be on the spot, had promised assistance to Lebanon, provided that this assistance goes to the people and to the reconstruction of the city.

It was stated during a video conference of donor countries to Lebanon, yesterday, that "the lebanese authorities must put in place political and economic reforms". "We must do everything so that neither the violence nor the chaos could not prevail," judge he. "This is the future of Lebanon and the region that plays itself out." At the end of this video conferencing, Emmanuel Macron has announced that the total amount of "emergency aid committed or that can be mobilised at short notice" is 252,7 million euros, including 30 million euros from France. Since the explosion, which destroyed a part of the city and left hundreds of thousands homeless, four ministers of lebanon have resigned.

international Conference to support and support to Beirut and the lebanese people, at the initiative of France and of the United Nations. Listen to the President's statement @EmmanuelMacron : pic.twitter.com/MStnn6x2ze

— Élysée (@Elysee) August 9, 2020

The place of the explosions in Beirut

Tuesday, 4 August at 18 hours local time (19 hours, French time), a first explosion was heard in the port area of Beirut, which lies to the north of the lebanese capital, in the centre of the city, close to the souks frequented. A strong explosion that caused a fire and hurry of the numbers of firefighters and first concerns. A few minutes later, at about 18h07, a second explosion even more violent, generating this time a mushroom-like nuclear explosion and destroying buildings, cars, and exploding the windows of buildings several kilometers.In the evening, the american institute of geophysics (USGS) explained that his sensors had registered the explosion equivalent to an earthquake of 3.3 on the wide open Richter.

What are the causes of explosions ?

After the double explosion in the port of Beirut, the chaos. The lebanese authorities claimed to have to clarify the causes of the tragedy. It was first explained that the explosions had been caused by a boat carrying the fireworks, and then in a terrorist attack. A theory fueled by Donald Trump who, on Twitter, analyzed these outbreaks as a "terrible terrorist attack", claiming that it was a bomb. The day after the events, the First minister Hassan Diab explains that the explosions could have been triggered by a warehouse for 2 750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate, a substance used in the manufacture of fertilizer but also explosives. They have been stored for six years in a building of the port. On Friday, three days after the incident, the lebanese president, Michel Aoun, had referred to the possibility that this tragedy was caused by an "external intervention", speaking of a possible missile or a bomb.

videos of the chaos in Beirut

The images are hallucinatory. The british newspaper the Guardian has published on YouTube a video featuring images of drones taken to the top of the port ravaged the lebanese capital. On social networks, and other images of explosions running in the loop. We discover an impressive smoke and a blast blowing the windows of the surrounding buildings. According to the governor of the city, almost half of the lebanese capital have been affected and the damage to property would be valued at between 3 billion and $ 5 billion.

The images of Beirut was damaged after the two explosions that occurred yesterday pic.twitter.com/bRCyr8Tr30

— BFMTV (@BFMTV) August 5, 2020

The last balance sheet of the explosions

according To a new report, the explosions occurred in Beirut on Tuesday 170 dead, including two French, 6 500 blessés, dozens missing and hundreds of thousands homeless , according to the latest provisional figures communicated by ministry of Health of lebanon. "There are certainly still (of the victims) under the rubble and we receive dozens of calls for of the disappeared", explained on Wednesday the minister of Health, Hamad Hassan. The ministry of foreign Affairs stated, on Thursday, August 6, that France had complained to at least one death and three serious injuries and 21 injured. The parquet de Paris opened an investigation. Emmanuel Macron has announced that a "fifty" of the French were wounded in the explosions.

A balance sheet which is expected to be even higher over the hours, given the number of wounded known in a serious condition, but also of missing persons and that may be still buried under the rubble. Also of note is that three of the city's hospitals were damaged by the double blast. The Red Cross has launched an appeal for donations and blood donations.

Which is the Frenchman who died in Lebanon ?

France deplores, therefore, at least one death, three serious injuries and 21 injured in more light. The identity of the French citizen who died in the twin explosion in Beirut has been communicated by Roselyne Bachelot, minister of Culture in the evening Thursday : it is Jean-Marc Bonfils, an architect installed in Lebanon, where he worked in particular on projects of reconstruction of buildings destroyed by the war. "The French architect Jean-Marc Bonfils died in the terrible disaster of Beirut. I pay tribute to her major work, such as the restoration of buildings of heritage destroyed by the war in Lebanon. France and Lebanon are united in the grief of his death," wrote the minister on Twitter.

The Lebanon, a country in crisis Date Of Update: 14 August 2020, 17:57