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Public fury over a massive explosion in Beirut took a new turn as protesters stormed government institutions and clashed for hours with security forces. Photo: EPA

Lebanon’s PM proposes early elections as Beirut blast protests turn violent

  • Day started with funerals for some of the 158 people killed by Tuesday’s monster blast
  • It turned to rage when the largest anti-government protest in months escalated
Middle East

Lebanese Prime Minister Hassan Diab on Saturday proposed holding early elections as protesters angry over the Beirut port blast stormed ministries, shots were heard and a police officer was killed during clashes that left at least 238 injured.

“I will put forward a bill to hold early parliamentary elections on Monday,” Diab said in a televised address. “I call on all political parties to agree on the next stage … I am with (the) Lebanese aspiring for change.”

Diab floated the proposal as thousands of protesters, furious with their leaders after Tuesday’s monumental blast at the Beirut port, took to the city streets to demand drastic reforms.
Beirut blast protests turn violent as security forces respond with tear gas and water cannon

“The scale of the catastrophe is bigger than anyone can imagine,” Diab said, referring to the blast. “We are in a state of emergency.”

Protests escalated into clashes between protesters and police as furious residents mourned the victims and called for the removal of what they described as “corrupt politicians”.

Shots, tear gas and flames in Beirut as thousands protest

Police used tear gas to disperse the protesters, a number of whom stormed several government buildings, including the ministries of foreign affairs, economy and energy, witnesses said.

Late Saturday, the Lebanese army succeeding in driving protesters out of the ministries they had briefly broken into and vandalised, burning images of Lebanese President Michel Aoun.

At the Foreign Ministry, demonstrators raised a huge placard at the entrance reading: “Beirut is the capital of revolution”, Lebanese privately owned television MTV reported.

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Protesters angry about Beirut blasts call on visiting French leader to push for reforms in Lebanon

Protesters angry about Beirut blasts call on visiting French leader to push for reforms in Lebanon

“We want the corrupt leaders of Lebanon to know that these ministries are for the people of Lebanon and not for them,” shouted one protester at the scene.

Central Beirut resembled a battlefield late on Saturday as stones littered the streets, garbage burned and spent tear gas canisters filled the sidewalks.

At least one person, a police officer, was killed after being “attacked” by protesters while “helping people trapped” inside a hotel in central Beirut, the country’s Internal Security Force said in a tweet.

The Lebanese Red Cross meanwhile said at least 238 people had been injured in Saturday’s clashes, 63 of whom were transferred to hospitals. Eyewitnesses said shots had been heard near to the parliament building.

Alarm raised over chemicals at Beirut port at least 10 times before deadly blast

Earlier, crowds packed the roads leading to the city’s central Martyr Square, banging on the iron fences on the pavements in a demonstration of their fury.

A call to join a march from ground zero of the blast site towards the square in Beirut’s central district asked participants to wear black in a sign of mourning for the victims.

On Tuesday, a huge explosion ripped through Beirut’s port, killing at least 158 people, wounding 6,000, displacing some 250,000 to 300,000 from their homes and inflicting massive destruction across the city.

Devastating aftermath of deadly Beirut blasts as Lebanon reports at least 100 dead, 4,000 hurt

A Lebanese Health Ministry official said on Saturday that 25 bodies whose identities remain unknown have been recovered from under the debris of the blast.

The official said that 45 people were still missing in the wake of the explosion that rocked Beirut. The search was still ongoing.

The blast took place in a warehouse housing some 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate, according to the Lebanese prime minister. The dangerous material had been stored there for years.

“People are enraged, people want justice for this negligence,” said Pierre Adra, a protester.

Organisers of the protests are the same NGOs and activists who have been demanding reforms and accusing Lebanese politicians of corruption since street demonstrations erupted in the country in mid-October.

Rescuers comb Beirut port rubble as first arrests made over explosion

The US embassy in Lebanon late on Saturday tweeted in support of the anti-government protests saying “the Lebanese people have suffered too much and deserve to have leaders who listen to them”.

“We support them in their right to peaceful protest, and encourage all involved to refrain from violence,” the embassy wrote.

Protesters break into the Lebanese Banks Association (ABL) headquarters on Saturday. Photo:

Several foreign officials meanwhile arrived in Beirut to show solidarity with Lebanon, including European Council President Charles Michel, who called for an independent inquiry into the cause of the catastrophe and offered European expertise.

Promising European support, Michel said that 33 million (US$38.9 million) for emergency needs had already been mobilised by the bloc for Lebanon, along with more than 250 rescuers.

French President Emmanuel Macron, who visited Beirut on Thursday, planned to hold an international video conference to raise funding for Lebanon.

Meanwhile, the Lebanese army on Sunday said hopes have dwindled of finding survivors at the blast site in Beirut following days of search and rescue operations supported by international experts.

“After three days of search and rescue operations we can say we have finished the first phase, which involved the possibility of finding survivors,” Colonel Roger Khoury told a press conference. “As technicians working on the ground, we can say we have fading hopes of finding survivors.”

Additional reporting by Agence France-Presse

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: one dead, hundreds hurt as fury erupts
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