#Beirut death toll over 200, as top Lebanon officials continue to resign

The death toll from last week’s massive explosion in Beirut has risen to at least 220, according to the Lebanese capital’s governor, who said dozens remain missing as the people’s fury mounts, according to  reports.

Meanwhile, additional protests have been called for Monday, when Prime Minister Hassan Diab is scheduled to chair a cabinet meeting about the Tuesday blast, the BBC reported.

The devastating explosion is believed to have been caused by an accidental fire that ignited 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate stored for six years in a port warehouse after being confiscated from an impounded cargo ship.

Beirut Gov. Marwan Abboud was quoted by the al-Marsad Online news outlet as saying 110 people remain missing, according to the BBC. He told Al Jadeed TV that many foreign workers and truck drivers also are among the missing.

The Lebanese army said it called off the rescue efforts at the port because no survivors had been found.

The resignations of three cabinet members — including Justice Minister Marie-Claude Najim on Monday — have not quelled the fury expressed by the Lebanese people, who are incensed over the decision to keep the highly volatile material near the city’s center.

On Sunday, the information and environment ministers quit, as did several lawmakers, Reuters reported.

Speculation increased that that the government could resign en masse. If four more ministers resign, the entire cabinet would collapse and enter caretaker status until a new one is formed.

“The entire regime needs to change. It will make no difference if there is a new government,” Joe Haddad, an engineer, told Reuters. “We need quick elections.”

Diab,, the prime minister has said he would request early parliamentary elections.

The blast — which wounded about 6,000 people and left nearly 300,000 homeless — has brought a new wave of public outrage at the government and the country’s long-entrenched ruling class.

Losses from the explosion are estimated to be between $10 billion to $15 billion.

On Monday, Public Prosecutor Ghassan El Khoury began questioning Maj. Gen. Tony Saliba, chief of State Security, according to state-run National News Agency. Other generals also are scheduled to be questioned.

State Security had compiled a report about the dangers of storing the ammonium nitrate at the port and sent a copy to the offices of the president and prime minister on July 20.

The probe is focused on how the material came to be stored at the site and why nothing was done about it.

About 20 people have been detained during the investigation, including Lebanon’s customs chief and his predecessor, as well as the head of the port.

Dozens of people have been questioned, including two former Cabinet ministers, officials said.

On Sunday, world leaders and international groups pledged almost $300 million in humanitarian aid to Beirut, but warned that no money for rebuilding the city would be provided until Lebanese authorities commit themselves to political and economic reforms.

Eli Abi Hanna’s house and his car repair shop were destroyed in the explosion.

“The economy was already a disaster and now I have no way of making money again,” he told Reuters. “It was easier to make money during the civil war. The politicians and the economic disaster have ruined everything.”

Some people doubt change is possible in a country where sectarian politicians have held power for decades.

“It won’t work, it’s just the same people. It’s a mafia,” Antoinette Baaklini, an employee of an electricity company that was demolished in the blast, told Reuters.

With Post wires