• Buhari mourns

• UN supplies arrive

By Bolaji Ogundele, Abuja

People in Beirut have expressed anger at the Lebanese government over what they say was negligence that led to Tuesday’s huge explosion.

Many accused the authorities of corruption, neglect and mismanagement.

But, President Muhammadu Buhari has described the explosion as a monumental tragedy.

Buhari, in a statement issued by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, however, condoled with the Lebanese President, Michel Aoun, and the people of Lebanon, over the disaster.

“President Muhammadu Buhari has condoled with President Michel Aoun and the people of Lebanon over massive explosions that rocked Beirut, the capital city on Tuesday, leaving 137 dead, over 5,000 wounded, and more than 300, 000 displaced.

READ ALSO: Countries to help as Beirut blast death toll hits 135

“The President also extended the sympathy of government to the large community of Lebanese in Nigeria, praying that God will rest the souls of the dead, comfort the grieving, and grant succour to the wounded and displaced.

“Describing the explosions, suspected to be caused by tons of ammonium nitrate stored in a warehouse, as ‘tragedy of monumental proportions’, President Buhari pledged the solidarity and brotherhood of Nigeria to Lebanon at this period of travails,” the statement said.

The blast killed at least 137 people and injured about 5,000 others and dozens are still missing. A two-week state of emergency has begun.

Twenty tonnes of UN supplies to treat people injured by the massive blast in Beirut have reached the Lebanese capital, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has said.

An aircraft has delivered the WHO shipment that covers 1,000 trauma interventions and 1,000 surgeries.

The UN health agency said in a statement that it would distribute the supplies to hospitals across Lebanon that have been receiving patients from Beirut, as three hospitals in the city are no longer functional and two were partially damaged by the explosion.

“The legendary resilience of the Lebanese people has rarely been so severely tested,” the organisation said.

It noted that Tuesday’s chemical accident came on top of civil unrest, an economic crisis, the coronavirus pandemic, and the country’s burden of hosting nearly 900,000 Syrian refugees.

THE coronavirus pandemic has prompted the largest educational disruption in history that has affected more than 1 billion school students worldwide, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said on Tuesday.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has led to the largest disruption of education ever.

“In mid-July, schools were closed in more than 160 countries, affecting over 1 billion students,” Guterres said in a video address, marking the launch of a new global policy brief on Education and COVID-19.

It is true that the schooling crisis existed long before the pandemic, as around 250 million children were out of school worldwide, but COVID-19 amplified it and brought the world to the edge of what Guterres described as a “generational catastrophe.”

Lauding efforts to keep up education via distant learning, the UN chief said many students stayed out of reach, for example, learners with disabilities, those in minority of disadvantaged communities, displaced and refugee students.

The schooling crisis has, in turn, had a knock-on effect on child nutrition, child marriage, gender equality and fair distribution of unpaid care work, among other things.

As elaborated by Guterres, the proposed brief addresses the crisis management through four steps, including the reopening of schools, increase of education funding, expansion of outreach, and modernisation of education through boost of investments in digital literacy and infrastructure.

CHINA has urged the United States (U.S.) to refrain from setting an example that other countries could follow against U.S. businesses by demanding that Chinese video-sharing platform TikTok be sold to a U.S. corporation.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said yesterday that the advice had become necessary as the U.S. could fall victim to similar circumstances.

On Monday, U.S. President Donald Trump said during a meeting at the White House that he had set Sept. 15 as the deadline for TikTok to be bought by an American company, such as Microsoft, or close down.

“Following the U.S. erroneous logic, any country can take similar measures against any American company under the pretext of protecting national security.

“The U.S. should not open Pandora’s box, otherwise, they will reap the bitter fruits themselves,” Wang said at a briefing.

The spokesman also called on Washington to take heed of the international community and the U.S. public and to not politicise economic issues but provide an open, non-discriminatory, free investment and business environment for companies.

READ ALSO: TikTok commits to digital upskilling with new initiative

In early July, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that the Trump administration was considering a ban on access to the TikTok app over privacy concerns.

The social network claims user data is safe and not shared with the Chinese authorities.

Meanwhile, Beijing has called on Washington to stop using government mechanisms to pressure Chinese companies.

Earlier this week, Microsoft said that it planned to finish negotiations with ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company, on the purchase of the Chinese-based video-sharing app by no later than Sept. 15.

According to Microsoft, TikTok will be subject to a complete security review and all the private data of TikTok’s U.S. users will be transferred to the U.S. in order to ensure transparency and government oversight.

A LARGE blast in the Lebanese capital, Beirut, yesterday killed no fewer than 50 people and injured more than 2,500 others, the country’s health ministry said.

It is not yet clear what caused the explosion in the port region. Videos posted online showed a column of smoke followed by a large mushroom cloud.

Hospitals are said to be overwhelmed and many buildings have been destroyed.

Lebanon’s internal security chief said the blast happened in an area housing highly explosive materials.

A BBC journalist at the scene reported dead bodies and severe damage, enough to put the port out of action.

The explosion is coming at a sensitive time for Lebanon, with an economic crisis reigniting old divisions. Tensions are also high ahead of Friday’s verdict in a trial over the killing of ex-Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in 2005.

Some reports suggest the explosion may have been an accident. Lebanon’s National News Agency reported a fire breaking out at what it called an explosives depot at the port before the explosion.

READ ALSO: Many dead, injured as explosion rocks Lebanon

Local media showed people trapped beneath rubble. A witness described the first explosion as deafening, and video footage showed wrecked cars and blast-damaged buildings.

President Michel Aoun called for an emergency meeting of the Supreme Defence Council, the presidency said on Twitter. Today has been declared a day of mourning, the prime minister said.

UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said the government was “ready to offer help and support” while French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said France was also ready to offer assistance.

By Alao Abiodun with agency report              

A massive explosion on Tuesday rocked downtown Beirut, destroying much of the port, damaging buildings and blowing out windows and doors as a giant smoke rose above the capital.

According to Associated Press, a Lebanese Red Cross official said many were dead and wounded but did not state exact figure.

Watch Video: VIDEO: Massive explosion rocks Lebanon’s capital

The footage trending on social media showed hundreds of casualties.

It showed a fire raging at the port, sending up a giant column of smoke, illuminated by flashes of what appear to be fireworks.

Meanwhile, the cause of the blast is yet to be known as at the time of report.