WFP ships wheat flour to Beirut after explosion

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

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

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

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

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

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

For 2020, the 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 Lebanon to help them to cope with the effects of the economic crisis and COVID-19.