UK offers aid as ‘rigorous’ investigation promised
A “FULL, thorough and rigorous” investigation has been promised into the cause of the blast which ripped through Lebanon’s capital Beirut as the UK offered medical and search and rescue experts to help deal with the aftermath.
At least 100 people died and thousands more were injured in the explosion and while there are no reports of British fatalities the Government said details of UK citizens caught up in the devastation were still being established.
The Queen was among those to send condolences to the nation’s president Michel Aoun, saying she and the Duke of Edinburgh were “deeply saddened” by Tuesday’s blast in the city’s port.
Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab spoke to Lebanon’s prime minister Hassan Diab to set out what support the UK could offer.
That would include a package of humanitarian assistance worth up to £5m, along with experts and the potential for a Royal Navy survey ship to help assess the damage caused to the port.
Mr Raab said the Lebanese prime minister told him there would be a “full, thorough and rigorous investigation to get to the truth – I think the people of the Lebanon deserve no less – and that there will be full accountability”.
The Government has said all embassy staff based in Beirut are accounted for, but some have suffered “non-life-threatening injuries”.
Mr Raab said the details of Britons caught up in the Beirut blast were still being established.
“We are not sure on the precise figures in relation to UK nationals there, we will obviously want to bottom out that in the days ahead,” the Foreign Secretary said.
“Obviously we have a consular team there which are monitoring that very carefully.”
Former Middle East minister Alistair Burt said he expects the tragedy to lead to “some degree of political shake-up”.
He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “Whether or not something like this does bring the political processes in Lebanon together to appreciate they can’t go on as they are, that will be another thing, but at the moment I think we should focus on the disaster consequences, be as supportive as possible in relation to that.”