Thousands rally in blast-hit Beirut, police intervene

The police are forced to intervene after around 7,000 take to streets in Beirut to protest the government’s handling of the aftermath of a recent huge deadly explosion in the Lebanese capital that sent the country’s main grain silo up in smoke.

According to Press TV, the rallies were held at the city’s Martyrs' Square on Saturday, with the protesters asking the officials to resign. The participants shouted slogans, blaming officials for mismanagement leading to the Tuesday blast in addition to unsatisfactory performance in its wake.

Some were hurling stones as the demonstrators tried to force their way past a barricade in a street that leads to parliament.

The police were then forced to fire teargas canisters to disperse the protesters.

So far, the blast has claimed at least 158 people and injured 6,000 others. Some 300,000 have also been made homeless, and more than 60 are still unaccounted for.

While nothing has been determined for sure, some media outlets have blamed the incident on unsafe storing away at the site of ammonium nitrate, a highly explosive material that is used as fertilizer.

The government has promised to hold those responsible to account, and has placed several officials under house arrest.

The country was already dealing with financial constraints that had brought the members of the nation to the streets on many occasions.

Army advises restraint

The Lebanese Army, meanwhile, posted a tweet, sympathizing with the demonstrators, but urging them to exercise restraint.

The public have to adhere to the peaceful means of protest, the tweet added, reminding that the Tuesday tragedy took its toll on the Army too as it involved many of its forces.

It asked the angry public to refrain from blocking roads and inter-city routes, and causing damage to public and private property.

ME