Anti-Government Protests Break Out In Beirut Over Deadly Blast

Reporter Ron Chang ㅣ 2020-08-07 13:48

Anti-government protesters chant against the government in Beirut, Lebanon, on Agust 6, 2020.

[Anchor]

There have been protests near the Lebanese parliament in Beirut where a small crowd vented their anger at the authorities after Tuesday's devastating explosion.

Riot police tried to disperse protesters with tear gas but the crowd hurled stones and lit fires.

Many Lebanese blame the country's political elite for negligence and corruption in the wake of the blast that killed at least 137 people.

The BBC's Tom Bateman reports.

[Reporter]

Despair is turning to anger in a city mourning its dead whose numbers continue to rise.

Social media accounts are filled with the faces of scores of those still missing while up to a quarter of a million people remain without homes fit to live in.

The military court said the investigation was continuing into how nearly 3,000 tons of explosive ammonium nitrate was apparently left for years in a dock warehouse.