WFP ships wheat flour to Beirut after explosion

World Food Program (WFP) has brought a ship of 12,500 metric tons of wheat flour into Leban to meet needs of country after deadly explosion that rocked port of Beirut.

Amer Daoudi, director of operations at WFP in Leban, said that all stor facilities and silos were destroyed by explosion.

He said WFP - as well as supplying country with tonnes of wheat flour - was also helping to set up stor capacity at Beirut port and was in process of bringing in equipment to help it handle bulk cargo once more.

explosion killed nearly 180 people, left many missing and injured thousands more.

It also occurred with country facing both a financial and ecomic crisis and COVID-19 pandemic.

Currently more than one million people in Leban are living below poverty line according to World Bank.

For 2020, World Bank estimates that 1.7 million people will be living in poverty while 841,000 will live in extreme poverty.

WFP has started distributing emergency food assistance to up to 270,000 vulnerable people across Leban to help m to cope with effects of ecomic crisis and COVID-19.