Beirut explosion rocks Lebanon's capital city

The head of Lebanon's Customs Authority Badri Daher has said he repeatedly warned the country's judiciary about dangerous substances stored at Beirut's port.

Daher said he sent six memos to judiciary officials warning that the substances posed a danger to the public, according to Lebanon’s LBC channel.

“Daher revealed that he asked to re-export these materials, but this matter did not happen," LBC reported.

LBC did not report the dates on which the memos were sent.

The explosion is thought to have been caused by 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate stored for six years without safety measures at the port, according to Lebanese President Michel Aoun.

Aoun has promised a transparent investigation into the causes of Tuesday’s explosion and vowed that those responsible will be held accountable and punished, amid mounting public anger over Tuesday's disaster.

United Nations (UN) Secretary General Antonio Guterres has offered his "deepest condolences" to those affected by the explosion in Beirut.

"I wish all injured, including United Nations personnel, a speedy recovery," he said on Twitter Wednesday.

"The [UN] remains committed to supporting Lebanon at this difficult time."

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi also said the agency stood "in solidarity with people of Beirut and Lebanon in these tragic and testing times," in a statement released Wednesday.

French President Emmanuel Macron will visit Beirut on Thursday, to show “solidarity” with the Lebanese people in the aftermath of the disastrous explosion, according to the Lebanese Presidency's official Twitter account.

The Elysée Palace said earlier on Wednesday that France was sending equipment and personnel to Lebanon as part of an emergency assistance package.

The explosion at Beirut's port Tuesday damaged 90% of the hotels in the Lebanese capital, state news agency NNA reported Wednesday, citing Pierre Achkar president of Lebanon's Hotel Federation for Tourism. The port area was severely damaged by the blast.

Beirut has attracted increasing numbers of tourists in recent years, with Lebanon drawing two million visitors in 2018.

The EU has offered its full support to Lebanon and activated its Civil Protection Mechanism (CPM) in response to the crisis. The CPM is a tool which helps the bloc co-ordinate aid from its member states.

EU officials will urgently deploy "over 100 highly trained firefighters, with vehicles, dogs and equipment, specialised in search and rescue in urban contexts," EU Commissioner for Crisis Management Janez Lenarčič said in a statement from published Wednesday.

The Netherlands, Greece and the Czech Republic will participate in the scheme and France, Poland and Germany have also offered to assist Lebanon.

"The EU has also activated its Copernicus Satellite mapping system to support the Lebanese authorities in assessing the extent of the damage," Lenarčič added.

"We stand with Lebanon and its people and are ready to mobilise further help."

France will send two military planes and 15 tons of equipment to Lebanon, as the international effort to assist the country intensifies.

The aid package includes two military planes, 55 personnel, 15 tons of equipment and a mobile clinic able to care for 500 wounded people, according to a statement from the Elysée Palace Wednesday.

The personnel and equipment is scheduled to arrive on Thursday afternoon.

In addition, 10 emergency health professionals will try to reach Beirut as soon as possible to assist the hospitals in the Lebanese capital.

The Elysée Palace said French members of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) had already stepped in to assist with the crisis on Tuesday evening.

France joins Qatar, Kuwait and Iraq, which have al pledged to send field hospitals to the Lebanese capital.

Six Turkish citizens were among the thousands wounded in Tuesday's explosion, Turkey's Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said in a tweet posted Wednesday.

“Five are lightly wounded, and the one who has undergone an operation is getting better. We are in touch with the families," Cavusoglu said.

Earlier, the Philippines Embassy in Beirut confirmed that two of its citizens died in the disaster, while eight more sustained injuries.

Hundreds of people in Beirut have been reported missing by family members in the aftermath of Tuesday’s blast, raising fears that the death toll will far exceed the current estimate of at least 100, Health Minister Hamad Hassan told reporters outside a damaged hospital Wednesday.

Hassan said his ministry was working on an emergency plan to set up field hospitals being sent from Qatar, Iran, Kuwait, Oman and Jordan. The minister said six to eight field hospitals would be ready “soon.”

Four of the city's hospitals were damaged by the explosion and are out of service, while those which remained open have been overwhelmed with casualties.

Correction: This post has been updated to correct a typo in Charbel Mallo's name.

Pope Francis has called on people to pray for Lebanon in the aftermath of Tuesday’s deadly explosion.

"Yesterday in Beirut, near the port, there were massive explosions causing dozens of deaths, wounding thousands and causing serious destruction," the Pope said in his weekly General Audience on Wednesday, from the library of the Apostolic Palace in Vatican City.

“Let us pray for the victims, for their families; and let us pray for Lebanon so that, through the dedication of all its social, political and religious elements, it might face this extremely tragic and painful moment and, with the help of the international community, overcome the grave crisis they are experiencing."