- Title: Lebanon's electricity company headquarters badly damaged by Beirut blast
- Date: 17th August 2020
- Summary: BEIRUT, LEBANON (AUGUST 17, 2020) (REUTERS) TRAFFIC PASSING BY ELECTRICITE DE LIBAN (ELECTRICITY OF LEBANON) HEADQUARTERS IN BEIRUT VARIOUS OF ELECTRICITE DE LIBAN BUILDING WITH BROKEN WINDOWS VARIOUS OF DAMAGE INSIDE ELECTRICITE DE LIBAN HEADQUARTERS IN BEIRUT / BROKEN DESKS AND CLOSETS / VIEW FROM BROKEN WINDOW SHOWING BEIRUT PORT BLAST SITE ELECTRICITE DE LIBAN EMPLOYEES CARRYING AWAY ITEMS (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) ELECTRICITE DE LIBAN EMPLOYEE, TONY MOUSSALLEM, SAYING: "Offices were all torn to pieces, there's no standing office or chair. Nothing was left, everything was ruined inside and walls went down. Even A4 papers were shredded, just like everything you see here." VARIOUS OF DAMAGED INTERIORS PEOPLE WALKING THROUGH DAMAGED HALLWAYS (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) ELECTRICITE DE LIBAN EMPLOYEE, ALI SULEIMAN, SAYING: "This is where the electrical network for all Lebanon was run. Employees used to sit here in front of a big screen on which they monitored and managed the network in a very advanced and fast way. This is now all ruined, we moved to an alternative place but it is not as good as this place here." VARIOUS OF THE DAMAGED NETWORK SCREENS DAMAGED DOOR VARIOUS OF VIEWS OF BEIRUT AS SEEN FROM BROKEN WINDOWS DAMAGED ROOFTOPS AS SEEN FROM WINDOW LEBANESE FLAG OUTSIDE WINDOW VARIOUS OF BEIRUT PORT SILOS DAMAGED AFTER THE BLAST AS SEEN FROM ELECTRICITE DE LIBAN BUILDING MORE OF DAMAGE AT BEIRUT PORT AS SEEN FROM THE BUILDING VARIOUS OF DAMAGED SHIP IN BEIRUT PORT MORE OF BEIRUT PORT AND SURROUNDING AREA AS SEEN FROM THE BUILDING
- Embargoed: 31st August 2020 14:55
- Keywords: EDL Lebanon blast damages electricity power cuts security
- Location: BEIRUT, LEBANON
- City: BEIRUT, LEBANON
- Country: Lebanon
- Topics: Disaster/Accidents
- Reuters ID: LVA001CRN0IFB
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: In a country blighted by power cuts, the August 4 Beirut port blast dealt a devastating blow to the state-owned Electricite De Liban headquarters in Beirut, leaving offices in ruins and killing at least two employees.
More than 1,000 employees work at EDL headquarters building in Beirut, but most had already left for home on the day of blast. Employees have been coming back over the past few days, to collect what remains of their belongings.
Since late 2019, the financial system has unravelled under the weight of public debt, shutting savers out of their bank accounts, triggering a sovereign default, crashing the currency and driving up poverty.
This month's explosion has piled more misery onto people, wrecking the commercial heart of Beirut and leaving many without homes.
Power cuts have made cleanup attempts more difficult and dangerous in dark streets covered with broken glass and rubble, with the ever-present risk of falling debris.
The blast killed more than 172 people, injured 6,000, left 300,000 homeless and destroyed swathes of the mediterranean city, compounding a deep financial crisis.
Officials have blamed the explosion on ammonium nitrate stored unsafely at the port. For many Lebanese, it was just the latest neglect by a sectarian elite that has for decades failed to provide the most basic services like electricity.
(Production: Issam Abdallah, Yara Abi Nader) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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