A Sputnik Arabic correspondent in downtown Beirut has filmed dramatic footage of the situation in capital amid ongoing clashes between protesters and security forces.
The footage shows dozens of even hundreds of police standing guard outside a building as an alarm goes off, with debris strewn around roads and sidewalks, and laser beams pointing through the smoke-filled air as a fire burns in the distance.
On Saturday, thousands of demonstrators flocked to the streets in the center of the capital, with police deploying tear gas and protesters throwing rocks and other projectiles. Demonstrators stormed several buildings in the downtown area, with some of them set on fire.
A group of retired officers entered the Foreign Ministry, Environment and Economy buildings, with others taking over the Association of Banks building, and the Ministry of Energy and Water. Later, media reported that the Lebanese Army had stepped in to expel protesters holed up in the Foreign Ministry building.
In an address on Lebanese television on Saturday, Prime Minister Hassan Diab called for fresh parliamentary elections to be held, and blamed years of corruption and mismanagement for the circumstances culminating in the deadly August 4 ammonium nitrate explosion in Beirut’s port.