Turkey is ready to help rebuild the port of Beirut, which was destroyed by a massive blast on Aug. 4, Turkish Vice-President Fuat Oktay said during a visit to Lebanon on Aug. 8.
Turkey’s Mersin port, on the Mediterranean, is ready to help Lebanon with customs clearance and warehousing services of large shipments until the Beirut Port is reconstructed, he added.
“We have said the goods could be transported with smaller ships and other means of transportation from Mersin to Lebanon,” he said.
Oktay also said in a speech that Turkish air ambulances could transport injured Lebanese to Turkey for treatment.
Turkish authorities have sent a medical team and supplies as well as a search and rescue team.
Oktay and Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu met Lebanese President Michel Aoun, Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and Prime Minister Hassan Diab.
A fire at a warehouse at the Port of Beirut led to a huge blast, causing massive material damage in several neighborhoods of the capital.
At least 154 people were killed and around 5,000 others injured in the tragic incident.
The Lebanese government announced the formation of an investigation committee to probe the blast within a period of five days.
The blast rocked Lebanon while the country is experiencing its worst economic crisis, including a dramatic drop in the value of the Lebanese pound against the U.S. dollar.
On Thursday, a Turkish military plane carrying aid and a search and rescue team arrived in Beirut.
The aircraft was carrying 21 National Medical Rescue personnel, two emergency units, three tents, medicine and medical equipment, 10 Disaster and Emergency Management Authority personnel, a search and rescue vehicle, three
Turkish Red Crescent personnel, a search and rescue team as well as medical and humanitarian aid.
Turkish Red Crescent helps Beirutis
Meanwhile, the Turkish Red Crescent (Kizilay) on Saturday launched a relief campaign to help those affected by the massive explosion at the Beirut port.
Code-named “Extend Your Hands to Wounded Beirut”, the aid agency said in a statement the campaign aims to help residents of the Lebanese capital.
