BEIRUT, Aug 8 (NNN-AGENCIES) – The death toll in the huge explosions that rocked Port of Beirut on Tuesday has reached 154, Lebanese Health Minister Hamad Hassan announced on Friday.
Hassan said that 20 percent of the 5,000 injuries need hospitalization while serious cases have reached 120 as the shattered glasses caused severe injuries that required surgeries, the National News Agency reported.
Two huge explosions rocked Port of Beirut on Tuesday evening, killing at least 154 people and injuring about 5,000 others, while causing massive damages in the city.
Lebanese security forces late Thursday fired tear gas to disperse dozens of anti-government demonstrators angered by a cataclysmic blast widely seen as the most shocking expression yet of their government’s incompetence.
The scuffles in central Beirut took place in a ravaged street leading to parliament, the wreckage from Tuesday’s explosion still littering the entire area.
Protesters had sparked a blaze, vandalised stores and lobbed stones at security forces, according to the state-run National News Agency.
Police responded with tear gas to disperse the small, but clearly furious crowd, wounding some demonstrators, NNA said.
Activists have called for a large anti-government demonstration on Saturday — an event they have titled “hang them by the gallows.” — NNN-AGENCIES
