At least twenty people were killed in a tanker explosion in the Akkar region of northern Lebanon, announced on the night of Saturday 14th to Sunday 15th August. the Red Cross on Twitter, adding that at least 79 people were injured and taken to local hospitals. The origin of the explosion was not immediately known.
Nearly 200 people were present at the scene at the time of the explosion, according to witnesses.
“The Akkar massacre is no different from the port massacre [de Beyrouth] “, said on Twitter Former Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri, referring to the explosion of August 4, 2020 which killed more than 200 people, injured thousands more and devastated entire swathes of the Lebanese capital.
Gebran Bassil, son-in-law of President Michel Aoun who heads the Free Patriotic Movement, the main Christian party in Lebanon, wrote on Twitter that “Our hearts are with the families of Altalil and Akkar this evening”.
A fuel shortage
Lebanon, faced with a very serious economic crisis, has been facing fuel shortages for months, affecting the supply of basic goods. Angry protesters blocked several roads in the country on Thursday, the day after a decision by the Banque du Liban amounting to a lifting of fuel subsidies.
The army was deployed on Saturday in gas stations, where endless queues were formed. Fuel distribution trucks have been stormed in some areas by angry citizens, according to local media. The military said it had seized thousands of liters of gasoline and diesel put aside by distributors.