Beirut port silo risks collapse amid fire

Lebanon's Environment and Health Ministries have warned residents in neighbourhoods near Beirut's port to wear masks and stay indoors, as one of its mammoth silos may partially collapse. A fire in the silos' northern block has been smoldering for the past two weeks due to 800 tons of grain inside fermenting in the hot weather.

The ministries anticipate dust from construction waste and some fungi from rotting grains in the silos could heavily disperse for up to 24 hours, should the structure fall. The silos withstood the impact of the devastating August 2020 blast, effectively acting as a shield to protect Beirut's western neighborhoods from the explosion. The explosion killed over 200 people and wounded over 6,000 more.