Beirut gears up for a ‘Day of Rage’ after blast

Martyrs’ Square was filled with aid tents and volunteers helping clean up Beirut Saturday, after a huge explosion tore through the Lebanese capital this week, with protests slated for the afternoon.

Multiple tents belonging to ordinary Lebanese people along with NGOs distributing food, water and cleanup supplies were set up in Martyrs’ Square – the site of the mass protests that shook Lebanon back in October.

However, the scene in Downtown Beirut is slated to change in the afternoon, as multiple calls for protest were made following the devastating blast that rocked Beirut, claiming 154 lives and injuring 5,000, in addition to leaving 60 people missing.

Titled “Saturday of revenge,” angered protesters are set to fill up Downtown Beirut, to seek justice for all those who died as a result of the explosion.

Some other prominent headlines for the protests include: “Revenge for our martyrs;” “The verdict has been issued, you are murderers;” “Hang the nooses.”

Beyond seeking justice, protesters are set to echo the original demands of the October protests, which called for the removal of the entire political class in the country and abolishing the sectarian political system in place.

Lebanese authorities asserted that the blast occurred when 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate that had been stored in a hangar at the Beirut Port for around six years, exploded.

People are enraged over what they deem gross negligence, and recklessness on behalf of the authorities, who did not take action to safeguard the lives of the Lebanese, despite having knowledge of the existence of the extremely dangerous material at the Beirut Port.

Meanwhile, Arab League Secretary-General Ahmad Aboul Gheit arrived in Beirut Saturday morning and met with President Michel Aoun, Prime Minister Hassan Diab and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri.

“Arab support for Lebanon is there, and solidarity is the only way to rescue,” he told reporters upon his arrival to Beirut.

Turkish Vice President Fuat Oktay and Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu are also expected to visit Lebanon Saturday, and meet with top Lebanese leaders.

Turkey had sent a military plane Thursday to Lebanon with a search and rescue team onboard in addition to aid and medical personnel.

European Council President Charles Michel is also set to arrive to Beirut, where he will “convey Europe’s solidarity with the people of Beirut,” according to a tweet he published Friday.