Hundreds of thousands of Beirut residents left their homes after the port blast Tuesday, said Governor Marwan Abboud.
Earlier, he reported the death of 10 rescuers after a blast in the port of the Lebanese capital.
“About 300,000 people were forced to leave their homes after the blast at the port. Damage exceeds $3 billion”, – quoted Abboud as saying.
According to the latest data, the explosion killed more than 100 people and injured about four thousand others. According to the Red Cross in Lebanon, the death toll has already exceeded a hundred. Wednesday, August 5, was declared the first of three days of mourning in Lebanon.
Beirut Governor Marwan Abboud, in turn, said the blast damage to the city is estimated at $3-5 billion.
Lebanese Health Minister Hamad Hassan called the situation in Beirut “a disaster in the full sense of the word”. He specified that four hospitals had been completely destroyed by the blast, patients had been transferred to other institutions and a large number of victims could not get help because of the lack of places in hospitals.
As noted by journalists of Cypriot TV channels, the sound of the explosion was heard in the capital of the island state of Nicosia (the distance between Nicosia and Beirut is about 240 kilometers – ed.).