A health expert has called on the people present in Beirut who can leave the capital to do so if they can, following the explosion that took place earlier on Tuesday.
Dr. Hussein Hassan, the associate chairperson of the Department of Natural Sciences at the Lebanese American University, encouraged people, via Al-Jadeed, to “wear masks, and leave Beirut if they can.”
This comes after Minister of Public Health Hamad Hasan confirmed over 50 deaths and around 2,700 injuries from the explosion, which took place in a chemical warehouse at the Port of Beirut.
“What happened today is greater than the size of Lebanon in its current situation, and this disaster is a challenge to the state and catastrophic par excellence,” Minister Hasan said late Tuesday.
“The major national disaster,” as Prime Minister Hassan Diab called it, has caused great devastation in Beirut and displaced many, while the number of casualties continues to rise. A team of firefighters has also gone missing.
As a result, some Lebanese living outside Beirut took to social media to invite those affected by the catastrophe to take shelter at their houses.
On that note, Minister of Social Affairs Ramzi Moucharafieh tweeted:
“I invite the owners of furnished hotels and apartments that were not harmed by the explosion, and those adjacent to the capital, to open their doors and receive all affected families and citizens.”
“As for the development services centers affiliated with the Ministry of Social Affairs,” he added, “they will open their doors to help with all their available capabilities. Mercy for the martyrs and the recovery for the wounded.”
