S. Korea to provide US$1 million worth of emergency aid to explosion-hit Lebanon

SEOUL, Aug. 7 (Yonhap) -- South Korea will provide US$1 million worth of emergency relief aid to help Lebanon recover from a massive deadly explosion that killed more than 140 people and wounded thousands, the foreign ministry said Friday. The aid is the first batch of a total of $4 million the government has set aside for humanitarian assistance to the Middle Eastern country for this year, the ministry said in a press release. The government is also pushing to provide Beirut with an additional $3 million to help the country fight the coronavirus pandemic, it added. The explosion occurred Tuesday when a waterfront warehouse with nearly 2,800 tons of ammonium nitrate, a highly explosive fertilizer, caught fire. Tuesday's blast has claimed 145 lives and wounded more than 5,000. On Thursday, ministry spokesperson Kim In-chul said the government was actively considering ways to provide support for Beirut. According to news reports, the explosion has left some 300,000 people, or over 12 percent of Beirut's population, displaced, with the city's total damage estimated at $10 billion to $15 billion. Since 2011, South Korea has provided $13.3 million in humanitarian aid to Lebanon. elly@yna.co.kr (END)