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Rescuers continued to search Thursday for the missing following Tuesday’s massive blast at Beirut’s port while visiting French President Emmanuel Macron warned the country would continue to weaken without serious reforms.
 
The health ministry said the number of dead has risen to 137 along with the more than 5,000 people injured in the explosion. Officials expect the death toll will rise.
 
Macron in Beirut 

Macron visited Beirut Thursday to meet with political leaders. France, the former colonial power in Lebanon, is sending emergency doctors and several tons of medical equipment.
 
Macron said his visit was “an opportunity to have a frank and challenging dialogue with Lebanese political powers and institutions.” Macron also warned “if reforms are not made, Lebanon will continue to sink.”
 

French President Emmanuel Macron, center, wears a mask to protect against the coronavirus, as he visits the Gemayzeh neighborhood, which suffered extensive damage from an explosion on Tuesday that hit the seaport of Beirut, Lebanon, Aug. 6, 2020.

State of Emergency

Lebanon’s Cabinet has declared a two-week state of emergency and ordered the military to place under house arrest anyone who was involved in warehousing explosive material that detonated at the port.
 
Authorities are investigating what led to the blast and leaders have put the focus on what they said was tons of ammonium nitrate that had been stored at port warehouses for the past six years.President Michel Aoun has pledged those accountable would face “the most severe penalties.”
 
A Lebanese official who is a target in the probe has tried to shift blame for the explosives at the port. Badri Daher, the head of the customs department, told LBC TV late Wednesday that officials sent as many as six letters to the judiciary over the years asking that the ammonium nitrate be removed because of the dangers it presented.
 
Daher said he could do nothing more than alert authorities, even if it meant “extra work” for him and his predecessor. Daher also maintained the port authority was responsible for the explosive material, while his responsibility was to prevent smuggling and collect duties.
 
Anger reaching boiling point

Anger is escalating against Lebanon’s various political groups that have ruled the country since the end of the 15-year civil war in 1990. Long-serving politicians are widely viewed as corrupt and incapable of providing even the most basic services such as electricity.
 
The explosion devastated the vital port area and was so strong it blew out windows far from the port and damaged numerous buildings.

People are seen at the entrance to a damaged building near the site of an explosion Tuesday that hit the seaport of Beirut, Lebanon, Aug. 6, 2020.

Beirut Gov. Marwan Abboud said Wednesday the “apocalyptic situation” has left an estimated 300,000 people homeless.

In the aftermath, hospitals were overrun with people seeking care. Survivors with their faces and clothes covered in blood were walking through the streets.

The World Health Organization said Wednesday three hospitals in Beirut were heavily damaged in the blast and are not currently functional. WHO said two other hospitals are only partly operational.
 
International response

The international community has responded with condolences for the dead and offers to help the people of Beirut with recovery efforts.

Russia sent a military hospital along with 50 medical workers, while Qatar is dispatching field hospitals and medical aid. Iraq is sending its own crew of medical workers along with truckloads of medical supplies.

Tunisia offered to bring patients back to its hospitals for treatment.

Australia said Thursday it would contribute an initial round of $1.4 million in aid for Beirut, while Britain pledged a $6.6 million aid package and Hungary said it would donate $1.2 million to help with rescue and reconstruction efforts.

An aerial view shows the massive damage done to Beirut port's grain silos, center, and the area around it on Aug. 5, 2020, one day after a mega-blast tore through the harbor in the heart of the Lebanese capital.

Germany sent about 50 search and rescue specialists along with search dogs from its civil protection organization to help search for people who may be stuck in the rubble.

US response

U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper told the Aspen Security Forum Wednesday, "We're reaching out to the Lebanese government, have reached out. We're positioning ourselves to provide them whatever assistance we can, humanitarian assistance, medical supplies, you name it, to assist the people of Lebanon," he said, clarifying that for now, there is nothing to suggest the explosion was triggered on purpose.

"Most believe it was an accident, as reported," he said, adding, "It's a shame to see it happen. When you see the video, it's just devastating."

But President Donald Trump said Wednesday he’s “heard it both ways” — that it could have been an accident or “a bomb.”

The U.S. State Department also said Wednesday that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo spoke with Prime Minister Hassan Diab Wednesday to reaffirm Washington’s “steadfast commitment to assist the Lebanese people.”

Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden expressed sympathy for the victims of the explosion and urged the Trump administration and the international community “to immediately mobilize assistance to the thousands injured in the blast.”

2005 bombing trial on hold

The blast has also compelled the Special Tribunal for Lebanon to postpone its verdict in the trial of four men accused of the 2005 bombing that killed former Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri and 21 others.

The United Nations-backed court was scheduled to hand down a verdict on Friday, but the court said in an online statement Wednesday it would be postponed until Aug. 18 “out of respect for the countless victims of the devasting explosion that shook Beirut on 4 August, and the three days of public mourning in Lebanon.”