Beirut fire: Video shows cloud of smoke as blazes erupt at port weeks after deadly blast

A massive fire broke out at Beirut port, on September 10, sending a large column of black smoke into the sky as the Lebanese capital over a month after the deadly explosion. According to local media reports, the incident occurred after a store of tires and oil caught fire. The authorities are yet to officially confirm the reason behind the fire.

The Lebanese army tweeted that the fire broke out in a warehouse of oils and tires in the duty-free market in Beirut Port. It added that operations to extinguish the fire have begun and army helicopters will cooperate to douse it. Aya Majzoub, a researcher at the Human Rights Watch, said that the fire has caused panic across the city.

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'Sheer incompetence'

Majzoub said that the sheer incompetence of the Lebanon state is staggering as, once again, firefighters were sent in without knowing the cause of the fire. The incident has raised serious questions over the capability of the state and authorities as the city has not even recovered from the devastating explosion which claimed at least 180 lives last month.

The Lebanese government, formed in January with the support of Hezbollah movement, resigned over the blast which wreaked havoc in the city of Beirut. Lebanon's Information Minister Manal Abdel Samad was the first top official to quit over the devastation, saying the government couldn’t meet the demands of the public and the “reality does not match our ambitions”.

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