Beirut explosion causes losses of over 15 billion dollars

Lebanese President Michel Aoun revealed on Wednesday that the initial estimation of the losses caused by Beirut's port explosion, which has killed 171 people (although some reports put the death toll at over 200) and injured over six thousand, exceeds 15 billion dollars.

The Lebanese president had a phone conversation with Spain's King Felipe VI in which Aoun said "the initial estimations of the losses Lebanon has endured surpass 15 billion dollars". He added that there would be further "further materialistic losses and the urgent need to construction material to rebuild the affected neighborhoods".

Ministers to be interrogated over port explosion

Meanwhile, a handful of former and current ministers, who at some point in their careers had responsibility for Beirut's port, are set to be questioned by a Lebanese court over the storage of the 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate at warehouse number 12 on the docks, according to  source who spoke to France Press Agency.

The source further noted that the attorney-general judge Ghassan El-Khoury will summon some of the previous public works ministers along with former justice and finance ministers, who are expected to face the charges of negligence and ignoring the danger posed by the storage of such explosive substances.