Supervisor Elham AbolFateh
Editor in Chief Mohamed Wadie

The Clooney’s Donate $100,000 to Lebanese Charities in Wake of Beirut Blast


Fri 07 Aug 2020 | 09:56 AM
Yara Sameh

Hollywood couple George and Amal Clooney have generous donations to three Lebanese charities after capital Beirut was rocked by a deadly blast.

The Clooneys, who live in Britain, have donated 100,000 dollars (£76,000) to the Lebanese Red Cross, Impact Lebanon, and Baytna Baytak.

In a statement, the couple said they hoped to give back to the Lebanese community, which was left devastated after a massive explosion killed at least 135 people and injured at least 5,000 on Tuesday.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="640"]Amal Clooney (left) and George Clooney Amal Clooney (left) and George Clooney[/caption]

The massive explosion erupted at Beirut Port with a huge mushroom cloud that Lebanese officials said came from a stockpile of over 2,750 kilograms of ammonium nitrate in a warehouse at the port.

Lebanon’s Health Ministry announced on Thursday that the death toll from a massive explosion in the capital Beirut has left at least 135 people killed and more than 5,000 injured.

Beirut’s governor said 300,000 people have been left homeless. Damages are estimated at up to $5 billion.

On Wednesday, the Lebanese government has declared a state of emergency for two weeks in Beirut in the wake of the devastating explosions rocked the capital.

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="1500"]Beirut Blast Beirut Blast[/caption]

During Lebanon’s cabinet meeting, an order was issued for putting an unspecified number of Beirut port officials under house arrest pending an investigation into how 2750 tons of ammonium nitrate came to be stored at the port for years.

The move comes amid speculation that negligence was to blame for the explosion.

On his part, Diab said that what happened “a great catastrophe that struck Lebanon,” adding that a quick process of repairing damages and providing urgent aid to help people has been initiated.

The prime minister also called upon “All political forces (Lebanese) to stop the confrontations and focus on addressing the repercussions of the explosion.”

On the other hand, The United Nations (UN) Security Council will hold an emergency meeting next Monday on the massive explosion. The session was requested by the Arab group to discuss the repercussions of this blast.