In blast-hit Beirut, angry Lebanese urge France’s Macron to help oust regime

Name: “Am I going to die?” Couple recalls the moment of Beirut blast
Uploaded: 2020-08-06T12:45:11.000Z
Duration: 2 min 35 s
Description: “Am I going to die?” Couple recalls the moment of Beirut blast

The French president pledged support and urged urgent reforms after a massive explosion devastated the Lebanese capital

‘We can’t bear more than this. The whole system has got to go,’ a resident says

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Lebanon’s President Michel Aoun (left) receiving his French counterpart Emmmanuel Macron at the airport in Beirut. Photo: AFP

Agence France-Presse

Published: 8:45pm, 6 Aug 2020Updated: 2:37am, 7 Aug 2020

French President Emmanuel Macron visited shell-shocked Beirut on Thursday, pledging support and urging change after a massive explosion devastated the Lebanese capital in a disaster that has sparked grief and fury.

“Lebanon is not alone,” he tweeted on arrival before pledging Paris would coordinate international relief efforts after the colossal blast killed at least 137 people, wounded thousands and caused billions of dollars in damage.

But Macron also warned that Lebanon – already mired in a deep economic crisis, in desperate need of a bailout and hit by political turmoil – would “continue to sink” unless it implements urgent reforms.

Public anger is on the boil over the blast caused by a massive pile of ammonium nitrate that had for years lain in a ramshackle portside warehouse – proof to many Lebanese of the deep rot at the core of their state system.

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“Am I going to die?” Couple recalls the moment of Beirut blast

Macron visited Beirut’s harbourside blast zone, now a wasteland of blackened ruins, rubble and charred debris where a 140 metre (460 feet) wide crater has filled with seawater.

As Macron inspected a devastated pharmacy, angry crowds outside vented their fury at their “terrorist” leadership, shouting “revolution” and “the people want an end to the regime!”