Eight more grain silos collapse at Beirut port, just weeks after two-year anniversary blast
- Silos toppled, succumbing to damage from a devastating 2020 explosion that killed more than 200 people. It is the third such collapse in a month
- Crash sent a cloud of brown-grey dust billowing over the waterfront local television reported. There were no immediate reports of injuries
The northern section of the grain silos damaged two years ago by a blast at the Beirut port collapsed early on Tuesday after warnings the structure was leaning too far to stay up.
In total eight more grain silos toppled, the third such collapse in a month, Agence France-Presse correspondents reported.
The crash sent a cloud of brown-grey dust billowing over the waterfront, the LBCI television station reported. There were no immediate reports of injuries.
The remaining southern block is more stable and not at imminent risk of collapse, said French civil engineer Emmanuel Durand, who has installed sensors on the silos.
The huge explosion at the port on August 4, 2020, killed more than 220 people and gutted the northern section of the grain silos, leaving wheat and corn spilling out in the sun.
The silos absorbed much of the impact of the massive explosion of haphazardly stored ammonium nitrate fertiliser two years ago.