Smoldering Beirut port silo risks total collapse amid fire

By KAREEM CHEHAYEB
Associated Press

BEIRUT (AP) — Lebanon’s government says the ruin of a massive silo struck with a deadly blast at Beirut’s port two years ago risks collapsing. Lebanon’s prime minister said Friday that an ongoing fire due to fermenting grain inside the silo has now expanded. He ordered firefighters to step back from the area. The dramatic sight of the smoldering, partially blackened silo is reviving memories and in some cases trauma for survivors of the gigantic explosion that tore through the port two years ago, killing over 200 people and wounding thousands. A judicial probe found that many government officials knew about the dangerous chemicals that had been stored at the port, but took little action.