Lebanon after explosion: Beirut residents clean up debris in streets after blast

Beirut residents on Wednesday cleaned up debris from streets filled with smashed cars by destroyed buildings in the aftermath of a massive blast that killed more than 100.

Lebanon mourned on Thursday the victims of the most powerful blast to hit the country that was already being crushed by an economic crisis, as rescuers searched for those missing since the explosion that flattened Beirut port and devastated the city. Tuesday's (August 4) blast killed at least 145 people and injured 5,000. Officials expect the death toll to rise. Dozens are missing and up to 250,000 people, according to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), were left without homes fit to live in after shockwaves smashed building facades, sucked furniture out into streets and shattered windows miles inland.

Prime Minister Hassan Diab declared three days of mourning from Thursday for victims of the explosion, the most devastating ever to hit the city that is still scarred by civil war three decades ago and reeling from a financial meltdown and surge in coronavirus cases.

Officials have blamed the disaster on a huge stockpile of highly explosive material held for years at the port in unsafe conditions. The government has ordered port officials to be put under house arrest, ministerial sources told Reuters.