Nazar Najarian, the secretary-general of Lebanon’s Kataeb political party, has died after being critically injured as a result of Tuesday’s powerful blast in Beirut’s port, the Al Arabiya TV channel reported.
Prior to this, the media reported that the politician had fallen into a coma.
#BREAKING The General Secretary of #Lebanese Kataeb Party Nazar Najarian died after massive #Beirut explosion. pic.twitter.com/azgPEkuiA0
— Dwain Jude D'silva 🇺🇸 (@JudeDwain) August 4, 2020
Hundreds of people were wounded in the powerful blast, according to Lebanese health authorities. Reports say that at least 10 people died in the explosion.
A massive fire has engulfed Beirut following the blast. The explosion’s shockwave was felt miles away from the epicentre, hitting residential and office buildings. A Sputnik correspondent reported that the Russian trade mission's building was damaged as well.
The Lebanese authorities have already ruled out an initial theory that the blast was caused by a fire at a fireworks warehouse near the port.
Beirut Governor Marwan Abboud has compared the scope of the incident to the 1945 atomic bombing of Hiroshima.
