After the devastating explosion in the port of the Lebanese capital Beirut, aid to the country in crisis is also underway in Saxony. On Friday, the Protestant regional church and the Diakonie called for donations. “Help here needs to be delivered very quickly,” Diakonie boss Dietrich Bauer explained. Diakonie-Katastrophenhilfe has already launched emergency aid with a local partner organization.
The staff are responsible for putting the main emergency medical aid centers back into service. A soup kitchen will also be open to provide people with hot meals. Housing construction is also expected to start in the coming days.
“We help where it is needed most,” said the Dresden humanitarian organization “arche noVa”, which has a project office in Tripoli – Lebanon’s second largest city. On the third day after the explosion, the extent of the disaster did not really become clear. “Within a radius of several kilometers, everything has been destroyed and devastated, metal parts and shards of glass are everywhere and the port facilities, practically the heart of the Lebanese capital, through which more than 80% of all goods arrive. consumption of the country, are all in ruins. Emergency aid is being examined in Beirut.
Muriel Schockenhoff, employee of “Arche noVa”, returned to Beirut shortly before the explosion. “As we passed the harbor we saw several fire trucks, shortly after we got stuck in a traffic jam and heard the first explosion right behind us, shortly after it hit for the second time. We didn’t even know what was going on. As if by some miracle our car only had one dent in the roof, while all around there were pieces and rubble, ”the woman said.
At least 149 people were killed in the blast and around 5,000 were injured. Around 300,000 people have reportedly lost their homes.
