Lebanon security forces fired teargas at demonstrators in Beirut, as Lebanon's government ignited their ire after a massive explosion on Tuesday.
According to the state media, security forces tackled dozens of anti-government demonstrators in central Beirut with some in the small protest being wounded.
The protesters made attempts to force their way through security barriers barring access to Parliament.
Also, demonstrators reportedly started a fire, hurled stones at the police, vandalized shops, made efforts for their entry into Nejmeh Square. Activists have called for more protests on Saturday, the 8th of August, in the wake of demands for accountability of the Lebanese government after the Port of Beirut explosion, reported Garda World.
The protesters who took to the streets of Beirut demanded that top officials should tender their resignation in the aftermath of at least 145 fatalities and around 5,000 injured.
According to government officials, the blast, which shattered windows miles away from the explosion site and leveled buildings, was caused by 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate that had been stockpiled unsafely since 2013, reported Yahoo News.
The wreckage from Tuesday's blast in Beirut is still littering the whole area as the scuffles in central Beirut took place in a devastating street leading to Parliament.
The blast posed questions as to how a large cargo of the extremely explosive substance could have been left unbarred in a span of years, reported The New Arab.
The total number of fatalities was expected to increase as rescue workers dig through the debris. While neighborhoods were destroyed, the blast zone is currently a wasteland of blackened ruins.
The protestors whom were fired teargas by the Lebanese security forces call for further protests.
The cause and aftermath of the explosive substance being left unsecured for a long time broadly appear as the most stunning expression of the Lebanese government's incompetence.
The blast came as Lebanon is fazed with its worst economic crisis since the civil war from 1975 to 1990.
Also, the blast added to the atrocity of a protest movement that surfaced in October to request] from across Lebanon to remove dust and debris from the neighborhoods skirting the explosion site. Some locals returned to their damaged homes and shops for the first time since the fatal incident.
Lebanon security forces responded with teargas to disperse the small but adamant crowd.
On Wednesday, August 5, a state of emergency was announced. Sixteen officials held accountable for the port's operation have been placed under arrest.
Accusations of mismanagement of the substance's stockpiling came amid sustained unrest since October 2019 over corruption and economic adversity within Lebanon. Demonstrators have asked for reforms to the country's governance.
Customs and port officials have affirmed that they requested numerous times for the ammonium nitrate, commonly used in explosives and fertilizer, to be traded internationally.
Two Lebanese government officials have tendered their resignation since Wednesday: the ambassador to Jordan, Tracy Chamoun, and a member of parliament, Marwan Hamade.
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