France’s Macron in Beirut: Lebanon is not alone

CAIRO – 6 August 2020: French President Emmanuel Macron arrived in Beirut on Thursday noon, to be the first leader pays a visit to Lebanon after the deadly blast that claimed lives of 137 people so far and injured more than 5,000 others on Tuesday.

At his arrival at the Beirut Rafic Hariri, Macron tweeted in French and Arabic “Lebanon is not alone.”

لبنان ليس وحيداً

— Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) August 6, 2020

Lebanese President Michel Aoun received Macron at the airport, according to a statement from the Lebanese Presidency’s official Twitter account. Then both leaders headed to the site of the explosions, reported the Lebanese newspaper Al Joumhouria.  

French President said that he would discuss with the officials the ways of eradicating corruption and putting economic reforms, the newspaper added.

On Tuesday, huge fire was seen on Tuesday just before a deadly explosion took place at the same spot in Beirut, horrifying citizens and destroying houses. The horrible explosion, which has been easily recorded by many citizens, was caused by a fire in a warehouse that housed an estimated 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate, according to Lebanese Prime Minister Hassan Diab.

#لبنان 🇱🇧 |
المساعدة الفرنسية في طريقها إلى #بيروت بالتعاون مع مركز الأزمات والمساندة @CdcMAE :
- أكثر من 25 طناً من المعدات
- حشد جهود المسعفين، نساءً ورجالاً من الدفاع المدني @SecCivileFrance و @francediplo_AR و @AmbaFranceLiban pic.twitter.com/jeqaMOGO0s

— الخارجية الفرنسية 🇫🇷 (@francediplo_AR) August 6, 2020

France French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian announced on Wednesday that France dispatched three aid planes carrying “a team of the civil defense, emergency unit personnel and a mobile health center by the Ministry of the Interior, allowing the treatment of 500 wounded,” reported NNA.

France is not the only country that sent or pledged assistance to Lebanon; Egypt, Iraq, the UAE, Kuwait, Qatar, and Iran already sent planes and ships of food, medical, and oil aid. Meanwhile, countries like Saudi Arabia, Russia, Germany, Algeria, and the European Union pledged emergency assistance.