Beirut explosion leaves migrant domestic workers without income or way home

Beirut, Lebanon: Migrant domestic workers protested outside the Kenyan Consulate in the Lebanese capital on Monday and Tuesday after being expelled by their employers without documents and no way to return home.

On the top of an economic crisis that has suffocated the income of one of the most vulnerable sectors of Lebanese society, the massive blast that rocked Beirut on August 4 has brought with it a new obstacle for migrant workers. According to Amnesty International, Lebanon is home to approximately 250,000 migrant domestic workers, mostly women, who come from African and Asian countries.

"These women are among the most marginalised people in society, and are bearing the brunt of the economic crisis exacerbated by COVID-19," said Heba Morayef, Amnesty International's MENA Regional Director in a press release.

During the pandemic, some of these women have been abandoned in front of the Ethiopian Consulate after their employers were not able to provide their regular income. Some of them have even been denied their own passports, which remain in the hands of their former bosses.

Physical abuse has also increased during the lockdown, according to Al Jazeera which documented the case of 23-year-old Faustina Tay who was found dead after she contacted an activist group for domestic abuse in March. The port explosion has now pushed many migrant domestic workers into homelessness.

"Even if they get enough money to buy a ticket back home, they will not be allowed to leave the country as the Lebanese government refuses to let them go," activist Dara Foi Elle told Reuters. "The Nigerian Embassy is trying to get laissez-passer papers to let them go, but we need help from the Lebanese government."

World powers promised not to fail the Lebanese people as the capital, Beirut, recovers from the blast that killed 158 people and destroyed swathes of the city last Tuesday. But foreign countries demanded transparency over how the aid is used, wary of writing blank checks to a government viewed by its own people as deeply corrupt. Some are concerned about the influence of Iran through the Shi'ite group Hezbollah.

'It's important that reforms be implemented' said UN chief Antonio Guterres on Lebanon

In a virtual meeting before Lebanon's prime minister announced the government's resignation on Monday, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for "a credible and transparent investigation determine the cause of the explosion and bring about the accountability demanded by the Lebanese people."

The Aug. 4 detonation at a port warehouse of more than 2,000 tons of ammonium nitrate killed at least 163 people, injured more than 6,000 and destroyed swathes of the Mediterranean capital, compounding months of political and economic meltdown. President Michel Aoun accepted the resignation and asked Prime Minister Hassan Diab's government - formed in January with the backing of Iran's powerful Hezbollah group and its allies - to stay as a caretaker until a new cabinet is formed, a televised announcement said.

Ahead of Diab's announcement, demonstrations broke out for a third day in central Beirut, with some protesters hurling rocks at security forces guarding an entrance leading to the parliament building, who responded with tear gas. Diab's government was under severe pressure to step down. Some ministers had already resigned over the weekend and Monday while others, including the finance minister, were set to follow suit, ministerial and political sources said.

Aoun has said explosive material was stored unsafely for years at the port. In later comments, he said the investigation would consider whether the cause was external interference as well as negligence or an accident.

Anti-government protests in the past two days have been the biggest since October, when angry demonstrations spread over an economic crisis rooted in pervasive graft, mismanagement and high-level unaccountability.

Heavy security presence outside of White House following shooting

Washington DC Metropolitan Police and the Secret Service set up heavy security around the White House on Monday, August 10 after a shooting incident disrupted U.S. President Donald Trump's news briefing.

The U.S. Secret Service abruptly escorted Trump out of the White House press room in the middle of a briefing on Monday because of a shooting outside the White House. Trump returned to the media room several minutes later and said a person had been shot by law enforcement and taken to the hospital. He said he understood the suspect had been armed. He said the shooting was near the fence at the edge of the White House grounds.

The Secret Service said in a tweet "the investigation into a USSS officer involved shooting is ongoing. A male subject and a USSS officer were both transported to a local hospital. At no time during this incident was the White House complex breached or were any protectees in danger." The doors to the White House briefing room were locked shortly before Trump was escorted out.

Nobody else was wounded in the shooting, Trump said. He praised the Secret Service response and said the agency would have more details on the event later. The president had been speaking about the stock market when a Secret Service agent interrupted him at the podium only minutes into the briefing.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought were also taken out of the room.

Trump told reporters he had been taken to the Oval Office, which is in the West Wing near the briefing room, after he was escorted out.

Lebanon after explosion: Resignation of entire government including Prime Minister

Beirut: Lebanon's health minister Hamad Hassan confirmed the government would resign following an emergency cabinet meeting on Monday amid allegations of corruption and negligence.

The health minister said, after a devastating explosion in Beirut that has stirred public outrage and spurred a string of ministers to step down. The August 4 port warehouse detonation of more than 2,000 tonnes of ammonium nitrate killed at least 163 people, injured over 6,000 and destroyed swathes of the bustling Mediterranean capital, compounding months of political and economic meltdown.

The cabinet, formed in January with the backing of the powerful Iranian-backed Hezbollah group and its allies, met on Monday, with many ministers wanting to resign, according to ministerial and political sources.

For many ordinary Lebanese, the explosion was the last straw in a protracted crisis over the collapse of the economy, endemic corruption, waste and dysfunctional governance, and they have taken to the streets demanding root-and-branch change. The information and environment ministers quit on Sunday as well as several lawmakers, and the justice minister followed them out the door on Monday.

Finance Minister Ghazi Wazni, a key negotiator with the IMF over a rescue plan to help Lebanon exit a financial crisis, prepared his resignation letter and brought it with him to the cabinet meeting, a source close to him and local media said.

Lebanon's president had previously said explosive material was stored unsafely for years at the port. He later said the investigation would consider whether the cause was external interference as well as negligence or an accident.

Anti-government protests in the past two days have been the biggest since October, when angry demonstrations spread over an economic crisis rooted in pervasive graft, mismanagement and high-level unaccountability. Protesters accused the political elite of siphoning off state resources for their own benefit.

Lebanon: ''They are not just numbers'': family of missing silo employee pleads for help

Beirut, Lebanon: Before he went missing on August 4, Ghassan Hasrouty, an employee at Beirut's silos for the past 38 years, thought he was working in the safest place in the city.

The giant silos' reinforced concrete walls and underground rooms where his shelter for many hours and days during Lebanon's long civil war. He used to tell his family that he was more worried for them than himself when he set out to work every morning during the civil war of 1975-1990. At 17:30 Beirut local time on Tuesday, Hasrouty called his wife Ibtissam saying that he will be sleeping at the silo that night because a shipment of grains was arriving and he could not leave. He told her to send him a blanket and pillow. She has not heard from him since.

Hasrouty's family believe that he and six of his colleagues are somewhere under the silos and they are holding out the hope that they are still alive. They say that Lebanon's rescue response has been too slow and too unorganised that whatever chance there is for them to be alive is being lost.

The family says that despite giving the authorities the exact location of where he is believed to have been at the time of the explosion, the actual rescue effort did not start until 40 hours later.

At their home in Beirut, the family has gathered every day since watching the news and anxiously await any information. 

"These people who are missing are not just numbers,'' says Elie, Hasrouty's 35 year old son. "We need to highlight the mediocrity of management of this disaster, of this situation, how bad it is managed...not to repeat such a horrible disaster and horrible management afterwards."

Tuesday's blast, the biggest ever to hit Beirut, injured more than 6,000 people and left an estimated 300,000 Lebanese effectively homeless as shockwaves ripped miles inland. Officials have said the blast was caused by 2,750 tonnes of highly explosive ammonium nitrate, a substance used in manufacturing fertilizers and bombs, which had been stored for six years in a port warehouse without adequate safety measures.

The government has promised to hold those responsible to account, but residents are seething with anger. The health ministry on Saturday said 21 people were still missing. At least 158 have been killed and the entire face of the city changed.

Hasrouty, whose own father worked at the same silos for 40 years, was a man dedicated to his job, his family says. His daughter Tatiana, 19, flits between resignation and hope. "We did not even get a chance to say goodbye. But we are still waiting for them...to all come back."

US will give substantial aid to Lebanon, but declines to give a dollar figure, said Trump

New Jersey: U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday said the U.S. will give "substantial" aid to Lebanon, although he did not specify how much the United States would provide.

An emergency donor conference on Sunday for blast-stricken Lebanon raised pledges worth nearly 253 million euros ($298 million) for immediate humanitarian relief, the French presidency said. World powers promised not to fail the Lebanese people as the capital, Beirut, recovers from the massive explosion that killed 158 people and destroyed swathes of the city last Tuesday. Lebanon was already mired in political and financial crisis before the blast.

But foreign countries demanded transparency over how the aid is used, wary of writing blank checks to a government viewed by its own people as deeply corrupt. Some are concerned about the influence of Iran through the Shi'ite group Hezbollah. 

The explosion gutted entire neighborhoods, leaving 250,000 people homeless, razing businesses and destroying critical grain supplies. Rebuilding Beirut will likely run into the billions of dollars. Economists forecast the blast could wipe up to 25 percent off of the country's GDP.

Lebanon: Protesters clash with police over Beirut blast

Beirut, Lebanon: Lebanese riot police clashed with demonstrators in Beirut on Saturday, August 8 during a protest over this week's devastating explosion in the city.

About 7,000 people gathered in Martyrs' Square in the city centre, some throwing objects at the police, who fired tear gas when some protesters tried to break through a barrier blocking a street leading to parliament, a Reuters journalist said. Tuesday's blast, the biggest in Beirut's history, killed 158 people and wounded 6,000, the health ministry said. Twenty-one people were still reported as missing from the explosion which destroyed a large swathe of the city.

The government has promised to hold those responsible for the explosion to account but few Lebanese are convinced and some set up nooses on wooden frames as a grim warning to their leaders.

Some residents, struggling to clean up shattered homes, complain the government they see as corrupt has let them down again. Before the explosion there had been months of protests against the government's handling of a deep economic crisis.

Somalia: Blast rocks military base in Somali capital Mogadishu, Before and after explosion

Mogadishu, Somalia: A huge blast rocked a military base in Somalia's capital Mogadishu on Saturday, killing at least eight people and injuring 14, emergency workers said, and the militant group al Shabaab claimed responsibility.

Army officer Major Abdullahi Mohamud said it was an attack.

Claiming responsibility for the incident, the military operations spokesman of the al Shabaab group, Abdiasis Abu Musab, said: "We conducted a successful martyrdom operation on a major apostate military base in Mogadishu. The enemy suffered many casualties and wounded, military vehicles destroyed."

Somalia has been embroiled in deadly violence since 1991, when clan warlords overthrew leader Siad Barre and then turned on each other. Since 2008, al Shabaab has been fighting to overthrow the internationally-recognised central government and establish its rule based on its own interpretation of Islamic Sharia law

Trump said will conference call with other leaders to support Lebanon on Sunday

Bedminster: U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday that he will join a conference call with Lebanon's president and other world leaders on Sunday to discuss aid to Lebanon in the wake of this week's devastating Beirut port explosion.

Trump said he spoke separately with Lebanese President Michel Aoun and French President Emmanuel Macron, who also will join the call. He said he told Aoun that three large U.S. aircraft were en route to Lebanon to deliver medical supplies, food, water and medical personnel. An explosion in the Lebanese capital's port on Tuesday killed 154 people, injured 5,000 and destroyed a swathe of the city.

France and other countries have rushed emergency aid to Lebanon, including doctors, and tons of health equipment and food. The U.S. Agency for International Development on Friday said it would provide more than $15 million in assistance, including food aid for 50,00 people for three months. It said it had also asked the U.S. military to transport enough medical supplies and pharmaceuticals to support up to 60,000 people for three months.

Senior officials from across the Trump administration have been meeting to hammer out additional assistance, a senior administration source said, adding continued concern about the underlying governance issues plaguing Lebanon. On Thursday, Macron visited Beirut and assured angry crowds that aid to rebuild the city would not go to "corrupt hands". The cause of the blast is being investigated.

Initial Lebanese probes have pointed to an ammonium nitrate cargo, which was abandoned in Beirut, as the source of the blast. President Michel Aoun said on Friday that a Lebanese investigation into the blast would examine whether it was caused by a bomb or other external interference or if it was due to negligence or an accident. U.S. agencies are considering both the possibility that it was a total accident and the possibility that it was somehow deliberately triggered, intelligence sources said.

Lebanese protest outside parliament as anger rises following devastating blast

Beirut, Lebanon: A small protest triggered by anger at authorities in the country took place outside an entrance to parliament in central Beirut late on Thursday.

Some demonstrators burned objects on the street and security forces fired tear gas canisters to keep protesters at bay, footage from local broadcasters showed. Earlier at the port, destroyed by Tuesday's giant mushroom cloud and fireball, families sought news of the missing, amid mounting anger at the authorities for allowing huge quantities of highly explosive ammonium nitrate, used in making fertilizers and bombs, to be stored there for years in unsafe conditions.

Dozens are still missing after the explosion at the port that killed at least 145 people and injured 5,000, while leaving up to 250,000 without habitable homes, hammering a nation already staggering from economic meltdown and a surge in coronavirus cases. Officials said the death toll figure was likely to rise.

Lebanon after explosion: Angry crowds in Beirut urge French President Macron to help bring change

Beirut, Lebanon: French President Emmanuel Macron toured Beirut's shattered streets on Thursday, two days after a giant explosion, with crowds demanding the end to a "regime" of politicians they blame for corruption and dragging Lebanon into disaster.

"I see the emotion on your face, the sadness, the pain. This is why I'm here," he told one group, shaking their hands on roads strewn with rubble and flanked by shops with windows blown out after Tuesday's blast that killed 145 and injured 5,000. Macron, wearing a black tie in mourning and flanked by security guards, promised to send more medical and other aid to Lebanon, while those around him chanted "Revolution" and "The people want the fall of the regime."

"But what is also needed here is political change. This explosion should be the start of a new era," Macron said, making the tour shortly after arriving on the first visit to Lebanon by a foreign leader since the blast. The president has said he would deliver "home truths" to a government that France and other Western donors have said must reform the country's politics and the economy.

One man told Macron: "We hope this aid will go to the Lebanese people not the corrupt leaders." Before the Beirut port blast, whose explosive force was registered hundreds of miles (kilometres) away, Lebanon was grappling with an imploding economy - its banks in crisis, currency in freefall and mountain of debts climbing.

"Mr President, you're on General Gouraud Street, he freed us from the Ottomans. Free us from the current authorities," said one person among the crowd who gathered around him, appealing for help from Lebanon's former colonial power.

Some of the crowd, who were filmed by a pool report in a predominantly Christian district of the capital, shouted: "Mr Macron, free us from Hezbollah," referring to the Iran-backed Shi'ite Muslim group, a powerful player in a nation where political loyalties often run along sectarian lines. After visiting a pharmacy damaged by the explosion, Macron told the crowd: "I understand your anger. I am not here to write a blank cheque ... to the regime."

Help Lebanon: Russia's emergencies ministry deploys field hospital in Beirut

Beirut, Lebanon: Russia's Ministry of Emergencies deployed a field hospital in the blast-stricken capital of Lebanon on Thursday. The field hospital will treat people with minor injuries from 08:00 in the morning until 20:00 in the evening but will admit anyone needing emergency treatment around the clock, a representative of the ministry, Alexei Skorobulatov, said.

A plane containing the field hospital and medical personnel arrived in Beirut late on Wednesday. Russia's emergencies ministry said earlier it was sending five planes with aid to Lebanon. Another plane with equipment for identifying the novel coronavirus infection left the Russian city of Saratov for Beirut on Thursday. Russia also said all medical staff travelling to Lebanon would be equipped with personal protective gear in light of the pandemic.

Along with this, Jordan, Egypt send food and medical supplies to Lebanon. Jordan sent a military field hospital that encompassed 48 beds, 10 ICU beds, two operating rooms, and an X-ray lab, along with 160 staff members. 

Drone footage showed destruction at Beirut port after Tuesday’s  explosion killed 145 people. Dozens are still missing after the blast that injured 5,000 people and left up to a quarter of a million without homes fit to live in, hammering a nation already reeling from economic meltdown and a surge in coronavirus cases. A security source said the death toll had reached 145, and officials said the figure was likely to rise.

Lebanon after explosion: Jordan, Egypt send food and medical supplies

Beirut, Lebanon: Jordan and Egypt sent aid to Lebanon on Thursday where more than 140 people were killed by an explosion in the city's port on Tuesday. Jordan sent a military field hospital that encompassed 48 beds, 10 ICU beds, two operating rooms, and an X-ray lab, along with 160 staff members.

Meanwhile a military plane carrying medical aid that left Egypt also contained food packages sent by al-Azhar University. Dozens are missing and up to a quarter of a million people were left without homes fit for living in Beirut, after shockwaves smashed building facades, sucked furniture out into streets and shattered windows miles inland.

Prime Minister Hassan Diab declared three days of mourning from Thursday for victims of the explosion, the most devastating ever to hit the city that is still scarred by civil war three decades ago and reeling from a financial meltdown and surge in coronavirus cases.

Officials have blamed the disaster on a huge stockpile of highly explosive material held for years at the port in unsafe conditions. The government has ordered port officials to be put under house arrest, ministerial sources told Reuters.

Lebanon after explosion: Beirut residents clean up debris in streets after blast

Beirut residents on Wednesday cleaned up debris from streets filled with smashed cars by destroyed buildings in the aftermath of a massive blast that killed more than 100.

Lebanon mourned on Thursday the victims of the most powerful blast to hit the country that was already being crushed by an economic crisis, as rescuers searched for those missing since the explosion that flattened Beirut port and devastated the city. Tuesday's (August 4) blast killed at least 145 people and injured 5,000. Officials expect the death toll to rise. Dozens are missing and up to 250,000 people, according to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), were left without homes fit to live in after shockwaves smashed building facades, sucked furniture out into streets and shattered windows miles inland.

Prime Minister Hassan Diab declared three days of mourning from Thursday for victims of the explosion, the most devastating ever to hit the city that is still scarred by civil war three decades ago and reeling from a financial meltdown and surge in coronavirus cases.

Officials have blamed the disaster on a huge stockpile of highly explosive material held for years at the port in unsafe conditions. The government has ordered port officials to be put under house arrest, ministerial sources told Reuters.

Lebanon after explosion: Baby born as Beirut blast rips through hospital

Beirut, Lebanon: As a devastating blast wave tore across Beirut after a warehouse explosion, Emmanuelle Khnaisser prepared to give birth to a baby boy as the hospital shook and windows shattered.

Her husband Edmound captured the shocking moments on camera before their son George was delivered safe and well. "My son George was born under a catastrophic blast, I did not believe we came out alive," Edmound said. In a social media post, the new father praised the efforts of the doctors and nurses who delivered his newborn son. In a message of thanks of written in George's behalf the post continued, "Thank you for bringing me safely into this world. I hope I can pay you back some day."

On Tuesday a devastating blast ripped through Beirut, killing 145 people and generating a seismic shock that was felt across the region. Dozens are missing, thousands are injured and a quarter of a million people are without homes fit to live in. A security source said the death toll had reached 145, and officials said the figure was likely to rise.

'They lost everything': MSF France says aid response to Beirut blast lacking

Beirut/Paris: A senior official of Doctors Without Borders on Wednesday said aid organisations did not "respond sufficiently" to the aftermath of the massive blast that killed more than 100 in Lebanon.

Mego Terzian, the head of Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) in France, who is himself French and Lebanese, said he had family living near the port of Beirut, where the explosion took place on Tuesday evening. Lebanese rescue teams pulled out bodies and hunted for missing in the wreckage of buildings on Wednesday as investigations blamed negligence for a massive warehouse explosion that sent a devastating blast wave across Beirut, killing at least 135.

More than 5,000 people were injured in Tuesday's explosion at Beirut port, Health Minister Hamad Hassan said, and up to 250,000 were left without homes fit to live in after shockwaves smashed building facades, sucked furniture out into streets and shattered windows miles inland.

MSF, who has teams in the north of Lebanon, the Bekaa valley, south Beirut and Saida, are supporting hospitals in Beirut, Terzian said. He added that MSF has sent donations, including trauma kits, to Lebanese health authorities. He expressed concern that the blast would pose "major risks" to the COVID-19 situation in Lebanon and would worsen the country's already burdensome financial management woes.

The explosion was the most powerful ever to rip through Beirut, a city still scarred by civil war that ended three decades ago and reeling from an economic meltdown and a surge in coronavirus infections. Terzian said he predicts it would take about a month before the fallout from the explosion stabilises.

Lebanon explosion: president Michel Aoun promises transparent inquiry into Beirut blast

Baabda: Lebanon's president, Michel Aoun, said on Wednesday, August 5 that an investigation into a powerful blast that rocked Beirut would reveal the circumstances of what happened as soon as possible, and that the results would be revealed transparently.

In a televised speech at the start of an emergency cabinet meeting, Michel Aoun also appealed to other nations to speed up assistance efforts to Lebanon, which was already grappling with an economic meltdown. Initial investigations indicate years of inaction and negligence over the storage of highly explosive material caused the explosion that killed more than 100 people, an official source familiar with the findings said. 

Another source close to a port employee said a team that inspected the material six months ago warned it could "blow up all of Beirut" if not removed. The head of Beirut port and the head of customs both said on Wednesday that several letters were sent to the judiciary asking for the dangerous material be removed, but no action was taken.

39 injured in a grenade attack on a pro Kashmir rally in Pakistan's Karachi

Karachi, Pakistan: At least 39 people were injured in a grenade attack as Pakistani government officials led rallies in support of Kashmiris on Wednesday and Prime Minister Imran Khan spoke at the legislature of the portion of Kashmir under his country's control as the country observed first anniversary of the annulment of the special status of Kashmir by India.

Last August, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government stripped Jammu and Kashmir - India's only Muslim-majority state - of its special rights and split it into two federally administered territories. In his speech, Khan condemned Delhi's actions and said Pakistan's efforts to lift the issue on the international stage were drawing the world's attention to abuses in Kashmir.

"Myself I have talked to all top world leaders, to Trump two or three times I told him how dangerous it is for the world, that it is a flashpoint, to Merkel of Germany, to Boris Johnson, Macron of France, I explained it to all of them, because they didn't understand but slowly they have understood," he said.

Khan also said Pakistan would honour Kashmiri separatist leader Syed Ali Geelani with Pakistan's highest civil award later this month. Kashmir is claimed in full by India and Pakistan, which have gone to war twice over it, and both rule parts of it. Indian authorities deployed troops and curbed public movement on Wednesday to stop potential protests in Kashmir.

About two hundred people from a Kashmiri group called "World Kashmir Forum" marched in the southern city of Karachi while lawyers burned pictures of Modi. Later in the day, at least 39 people were injured in a grenade attack on a rally in Karachi. The rally organized by Jamaat-e-Islami, a religious right party, was called off after the attack. The wounded were rushed to different hospitals, where one was in a critical condition, an official from the provincial health department said.

The attack was claimed by Sindhudesh Revolutionary Army, a separatist outfit that has become active in the past months. The group wants Sindh province, of which Karachi is the capital, to break from the Pakistani federation. It has also announced its alliance with the Balochistan Liberation Army, a militant group fighting for greater autonomy for the Balochistan region in southwestern Pakistan.

German specialist emergency teams assist the local authorities in Beirut after port blast

Frankfurt: Germany sent aid and rescue teams on Wednesday to assist the local authorities in Beirut after a devastating blast tore through the city's port, killing at least 135.

The German THW, the technical emergency organisation, and ISAR Germany, the International Search and Rescue teams boarded a flight from Frankfurt on Wednesday evening destined for Beirut. On board are search and rescue dogs, medical assessment teams as well as 15 tonnes of equipment and tools, Timo Eilhard, Chief of Operations of the THW told Reuters.

Lebanese rescue teams continued to pull out bodies and hunt for missing persons in the wreckage of buildings on Wednesday, as investigations blamed negligence for the massive warehouse explosion that sent a destructive blast wave across Beirut.

More than 5,000 people were injured in Tuesday's explosion at Beirut port, Health Minister Hamad Hassan said, and up to 250,000 were left without homes fit to live in after shockwaves smashed building facades, sucked furniture out into streets and shattered windows miles inland. The death toll was expected to rise from the blast, which officials blamed on a huge stockpile of highly explosive material stored for years in unsafe conditions at the port.

The explosion was the most powerful ever to rip through Beirut, a city still scarred by civil war that ended three decades ago and reeling from an economic meltdown and a surge in the coronavirus infections. The blast also rattled buildings on the Mediterranean island of Cyprus, about 100 miles (160 km) away.

France: Eiffel Tower goes dark to commemorate victims of Beirut blast

Paris, France: Paris' Eiffel Tower switched off its lights an hour earlier than usual on Wednesday, August 5 to commemorate the victims of an explosion in Beirut.

Earlier in the evening, a candlelit vigil was held outside the Sacre Coeur in Paris where people stood in silence, draped in Lebanese flags. In Beirut on Wednesday, rescue teams pulled out bodies and hunted for missing in the wreckage of buildings on as investigations blamed negligence for the massive warehouse explosion that sent a devastating blast wave across the Lebanese capital, killing at least 135.

More than 5,000 other people were injured in Tuesday's (August 4) explosion at Beirut port, authorities said, and up to 250,000 were left without homes fit to live in after shockwaves smashed building facades, sucked furniture out into streets and shattered windows miles inland.

Two French planes were expected to arrive on Thursday (August 6) with 55 rescuers, medical equipment and a mobile clinic. French President Emmanuel Macron will also visit Lebanon on Thursday. Other Arab and European countries are sending doctors, mobile hospitals and equipment.

The United States, Britain and other Western nations, which have been demanding political and economic change in Lebanon, also offered aid. Germany, the Netherlands and Cyprus offered specialised search and rescue teams.